The Spirit of the Ship
by Haunting Your Kids
Summary: When Danny is thrown through time to 17th Century Spain, he goes on an adventure, with the help of Capt. Jack Sparrow, to find his way back to the present. He'll also find himself fighting for more than a way home.
1. Where and When

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 1: Where and When

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Sunday afternoon. Danny was frantically trying to finish his history homework. As with every other piece of work, this was in urgent need of getting done, as if his life depended on it. If he wasn't constantly fight ghosts over the weekend, he'd be finished by then. But then again, it's not like any kids his age do homework outside Sunday. Danny ran his fingers through his raven hair, while his blue eyes were scanning from paper to paper over his family origins. A loud knocking on his door.

"I'm busy!" Danny shouted to the opposite side.

The knocker, by bursting through the door, turned out to be Danny's large father, Jack. "Quit doing your homework and come downstairs," Jack said. "I just completed a new machine."

"I was convinced by the first half," Danny said, "but I lost interest at the second."

"Ah, come on, son," Jack said, putting his arm around Danny. "This time, I've really pushed myself. And it's not even ghost related."

"Well, if that's the case," Danny said. He thought if it didn't have to do with ghosts, he wouldn't have to face any. Danny went downstairs to see what his dad cooked up this time.

When he reached the living room, he saw a large, drapped object in the middle of it. It was looked at and talked upon by his sister, Jazz, and his mother, Maddie. Danny was surprised that his mom seemed to be wondering what was behind it, since she and Jack would always work on a project together.

"Family, today, I present you withone of the most genius idea to hatch out of my mind," Jack stated.

"Kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?" Jazz quickly shot back. Jack ignored Jazz's comment and continued.

"I bring you..." Jack said and ended while pulling the drape back. Jack's wife and kids looked in awe at what in front of them.

"It's the Fenton Time Tunnel," Jack explained.

"Yeah," Jazz said, "you said that like we didn't need that sign on top of the machine to know that." As she said that, Jack took quick notice of the giant sign above the machine that said "Fenaton Time Tunnal". Aside from that, the Time Tunnel was an invention of pure brilliance. It held a hexagonal metal frame with more buttons, levers, and hoo-dickies one could really think of.

Jack retaliated by stating, "Do you know how simular this looks to the ghost portal? I get confused. And don't say anything smart at that young lady, for seven out of ten times, I am. Know what was I talking about?"

Before Jazz could mouth off another smart comment, the phone rang. "I got it!" Danny shouted, darting off to the phone in the kitchen. The phone rang for Danny on an almost daily basis. It would either be from his techno-geek friend, Tucker Foley, or his eco-gothic girl friend (er, friend who's a girl, really), Samantha Manson, or Sam for short. "What's going on where?" Danny whispered to in the phone.

"I'll tell you what's going on," Tucker said on the receiving end, "Skulker's back, and he's gonna attack your house!"

Danny knew that trouble was close. Skulker was the most dangerous hunter in the ghost zone, and now that he was loose, the most dangerous in Amity Park. Danny had several tie-ins with Skulker, and narrowly escaped each one. The technology Skulker possessed was incredible. He was completely armored with metal that had multiple weapons, all with a flaming, green mohawk. "Wait," Danny said, "how do know he's headed here?"

"Well, for starters," Tucker started, "Sam and I are on your front porch, and Skulker's on the rooftop across from us. I'm surprised he can't even see us. I mean, we're right in front of him, and..." Tucker was suddenly cut off by Sam when she snatched his cell phone.

"Danny, get your family distracted somehow," Sam told Danny. "You can't risk them getting hurt."

"I got just the thing," Danny responded, just before hanging up the phone. With that he ran back to the living room with the only thing that would get his one-minded dad away from an extremely dangerous ghost.

"Ghost in the kitchen!" Danny paniced.

"Ghost!" Jack excitedly reacted. "Finally, some action! Come on, family! I got a new invention to show ya!"

"Um, didn't you just show it, dear?" Maddie asked.

"Didn't I tell you that I had another?" Jack said, getting two shaking heads in responce. "Well, I'll show you in the kitchen! Danny, you stay here. This could get dangerous." With that, Jack grabbed his wife and daughter, practically carrying them, to the kitchen like a child would drag his parents into an arcade. Upon getting into the kitchen and Jack slamming the door behind him, Danny quickly jammed the door with a nearby chair.

"He has no clue," Danny said to himself. Just then, a hole was blasted through his wall, with Skulker entering through it.

"You're mine, ghost-boy," Skulker said to Danny.

"Um, couldn't you have just phased through the wall?" Danny asked his rival.

"I could have," Skulker responded, "but this way is just plain cooler." Danny couldn't help but shrug in agreement. "Now to make you my trophy."

"All right, Skulker," Danny said. "I'M GOING GHOST!"

The moment Danny said that, two white rings surrounded him, vertically opening around him. His white shirt and blue jeans became a black jumpsuit, with white gloves, boots, and belt. His clothes weren't all that changed. His hair had turned completely white and his eyes turned a glowing green. It was the completed transformation from Danny Fenton to Danny Phantom.

Danny wasn't born with these abilities. His parents had invented a portal to open a rift between Earth and a ghost world known simply as "the Ghost Zone". The first attempt of the ghost portal was a failure, and his parents, especially his dad, were pretty down. Later at night, Danny went to observe the ghost portal to see if something, if anything, was wrong with it. A freak accident happened when Danny tripped over some wires and knocked over some of the mechanics. The ghost portal activated suddenly, while Danny was still inside. The portal's effects had done something to Danny's molecular structure, giving him ghost genes. Danny's ghost powers, though often clumbsy with them, were very useful not only for crimefighting, but to counteract with the punishment he gets from the school bullies. He had the abilites to phase through walls, fly, disappear, overshadow, and, his most offensive tactic, fire beams of plasma. He was a mystery to everyone, with the exception of his friends, up until he was framed as a threat by a ghost warden named Walker, the day when Amity Park began to know of the existance of ghosts.

"So, Skulker," Danny said to his armored nemesis, "you want another rematch? I'm 2-0 last I checked."

"It will be different, now," Skulker grinned, as a vertical row of rockets emerged from his shoulder. "Much different." With that, the rockets fired, and were homing right towards danny.

Danny was flying two-and-fro to avoid the rockets, but they kept locking in on him. He threw himself against the front door, to get the rockets on a straight-foward path. At the last second, Danny avoided the rockets, which hit the door and exploded on impact. The smoke cleared to reveal Tucker and Sam in total shock that the door had just exploded infront of them, leaving only a doorknob in Tucker's hand. "Well, that's one way to answer the door," Tucker joked, not getting as much as a snicker from the goth beside him.

Danny spotted his friends rushing in the door. It was too dangerous for Sam and Tucker to come in unprepared, as danny saw it, anyway. "Guys," Danny said to his friends, "get out of the-". Danny was cut short by a monsterous flying tackle from Skulker. Skulker had Danny pinned on the floor with a glowing switch blade (more like a switch machete) from on top of his wrist against his throat. Danny struggled all he could to keep from being one head fewer.

"We have the Fenton Thermos, Danny," Sam shouted to the ghost boy. "Just keep him distracted."

"What does it look like I'm doing!" Danny responded, still trying to wrestle Skulker off of him.

"Hold on," Tucker said, rummaging through his backpack. "I know it's in here. Ugh, why don't I just carry it in a knap sack?" Tucker's frustration eventually leds him to empty his backpack by turning it upside-down and shaking it. Several books, pencils, and calculaters fell out, with the ghost trapping thermos to trail behind and roll across the floor.

"I got it!" Tucker said, chasing the thermos.

"Some time today, Tuck!" Danny yelled in panic, as he was avoiding Skulker's blows.

The thermos had stopped rolling. Tucker bent over to pick it, but coming back up, he bumped his head from under something. It was the lever to the Fenton Time Tunnel. The Tunnel started roaring up in a low pitch whizzing sound. Tucker tried regaining his balance by putting his hand on a conveniently placed board. A keyboard to be more precise. Whatever mumbo-jumbo Tucker pressed in, it made the Time Tunnel give a green, glowing vortex and a louder whizz from the engine.

Danny narrowly avoided a punch from Skulker, and then turned himself to where the machine was activated, to which Tucker was creeping away from with a nervous grin when the two made eye contact. "Tucker, what did you-". Danny was cut off again by Skulker when he gave a clubbing back swing to the back of Danny's head, causing him to fly head-first into the Time Tunnel.

"DANNY!" Sam and Tucker shouted in unison, and in worry.

"NO!" Skulker followed up. "I will NOT let my prey escape from me again!" With that, he followed Danny directly into the Tunnel.

"Oh, no," Sam said, obviouly worried. "We have to get him out of there!"

"But how?" Tucker asked. Sam and Tucker just traded stares at eachother for a second or two. "What are you looking at me for? You're the smart one, I just carry the neato gizmos."

Sam lowered her head and slapped it in the frustration of Tucker's idiocy.

> > > > > >

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Danny was screaming, falling into the rushing, green tunnel. The force of the speed was pulling his face back and making his eyes water. He found himself approaching an ending. Before he knew it, he cratered into the land below him, knocking him out and returning to his regular self.

After regaining consciousness, the first thing Danny noticed was his surroundings: solid dirt roads, clay brick houses, venders at every turn. "Oh, man," Danny worriedly said, "I don't think I'm in Amity Park anymore. Where am I? And more importantly, when am I?"


	2. Honor Among Thieves

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

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Chapter 2: Honor Among Thieves

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Danny was looking around the new environment surrounding him. Coming out of the alley, he found himself in a port marketplace, but where he was was still going through his mind. He walked up to a random stranger and asked him, "Excuse me, do you know where this place is?"

"¡Hable la lengua!" the man said. "¡Vaya de nuevo a su propio paía!" The man then stormed off.

Danny looked in awe. "Uh, gesundheit?" Danny continued walking, in a deep state of worry. "Great, not only do I not know where I am, I don't know a thing anyone is saying! I'm dead."

It was at that moment that Danny's stomach started rumbling. He hasn't eaten since breakfast. He spotted a cart filled with fresh fruit. He was going to reach for an apple when it hit him that he didn't have any money with him, and even if he did, the vender wouldn't accept it. That thought made Danny even more hungry. He had to stop thinking about food now. He had to find out where he was.

Danny was asking anyone he could find to know where he was, getting only negative responces, none of them in English. His efforts seemed about to stop when a hooded person bumped into him, causing both to fall on their behinds.

"Salga de mi manera," the hooded person said, revealing a young female voice.

"Sorry," Danny replied back to her, despite not knowing what she said anyway. It was after that that Danny noticed the girl frantically picking items up, which included several apples, a loaf of bread, and two vials of ink. She was stuffing them into her cloak, where they more than likely were before the two collided. "Wait a minute, did you steal all these?"

"¡Allí ella es!" a voice yelled from behind the supposed thief. The voice came from a soldier captain, with two of his men. All three had rifles in hand.

"I'll take that as a yes," Danny said, apparently knowing why they had the guns.

"Salga de aquí," the thief said. "Piensan que usted es un cómplice."

"I don't know what you're saying!" Danny said, releasing his frustration.

"Run or you will be killed!" the girl responded back. Danny looked shocked to finally meet someone who made since to him. Danny finally took the girl's advice after he heard one of the soldier's rifles go off.

Danny and the thief were trying to escape from the soldiers. Fortunatly, those old rifles took some time to reload, but it's not like Danny knew that. "Wait a minute," Danny suddenly thought aloud, "I'm half ghost." With that, Danny suddenly grabbed his cloaked companion and took both him and her through a nearby wall. The soldiers caught up baffled to see that their targets suddenly vanished.

While inside the building, the girl in the cloak seemed surprised to find herself inside when she was out three seconds ago. "How did we..." she said in complete bewilderment. "Did you..."

"Yeah, I did," Danny answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some guards to take care of." At that, Danny went into ghost mode. The girl appeared even more shocked not only of what Danny had turned into, but to actually see him go through the wall again.

The three soldiers were examining the building that Danny and the girl had disappeared into. Knocking the walls, searching for switches, anything to see how those thieves escaped. "Hey, redcoats!" Danny yelled at the opposing side, as the guards turned to his direction. "Well, the redcoats were british, but seeing how no one understands me, a little inaccuracy wouldn't hurt."

The soldiers looked very nervous in front of the floating ghost-boy. The one in front didn't seem to show as much fear, so he fired a shot at Danny. Danny easily phased out of the way, making the soldiers look even more terrified. Seeing the oppertunity, Danny flew in front of the lead guard, who was trembling in his boots by now.

"...Boo."

The guards went off screaming, with the head of the three screaming the girliest of all. Danny laughed at their fear, seeing how one was so scared that he left one of his boots behind. Danny phased back into the building the girl was hiding in. She was still there, probably paralyzed in terror.

"How did you do that?" she asked him, still pretty afraid.

"Well," Danny started, kind of nervous to answer, "the truth is I'm part ghost."

The girl screamed, to which Danny reacted by covering her mouth. "Shhh," Danny hushed. "We don't want anyone storming in here and causing a scene. I know it sounds weird, but..." Danny was inturupted by his rumbling stomach. "Uh, could you spare me an apple or something?"

"You mean you eat?" the girl said. Danny looked at her confusedly. "Alright then. I'll reward you once you escort me home. It's not far from here. Can you turn people invisible?"

"Just grab onto me," Danny told her. Without much reluctance, the girl with the hood and cloak and turned invisible to avid being seen by anymore soldiers.

> > > > > >

"Here we are," the girl said, showing Danny her home. It was a watermill that looked as if it had been abbandoned years ago. The good thing was since it was a watermill, there was still fresh water running through it. She showed Danny the inside of the watermill, which equally looked run down. "As we say in Spain, 'Mi casa es su casa'."

"Well, I can kinda see why... wait," Danny said, now with a secod thought, "I'm in Spain?"

"Well, yes," the Girl told him. "Where else would you be?

"Well," Danny started, "the thing is I'm not from here. I'm not even from this time period. You know, just to feel more miserable, I'm curious on what century this is."

"I believe this is the 17th century."

"The 17th century! Oh no. I'm four hundred years in the past without any way of getting back. How could my dad have forgotten to build a way to get back to the future? ...Wait, don't answer that."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, although I don't fully comprehend with what you're saying. Why don't we have something to eat?"

The girl led Danny to what looked like a kitchen or dining room, which had cabinets for storing and a fireplace for cooking over. "Oh, I almost forgot," the girl said, while removing her hood, revealing long, curly, brown hair, "we never introduced ourselves." She turned to Danny, showing him her chocolate brown eyes and to being around Danny's age. "My name is Adriana. What's yours?"

"I'm Danny," Danny answered back. "Danny Phantom."


	3. The Sparrow Flies at Night

Thanks for the reviews people. I'm really liking how the fan base is forming. To respond to Obi-Quiet, I will admit that description isn't my strongest point, but I'm thinking you and I see 17th century (not 18th century, as you were saying) Spain differntly. I'm kinda thinking while I'm watching "Zorro", you're watching something like "The Patriot" or "Sleepy Hollow" or something. I know that they're all set in different eras, but that's how I see it. One thing I noticed was I never gave this town a name, and as of now, I don't think it will be named. Now let's get to reading. Oh, wait:

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

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Chapter 3: The Sparrow Flies at Night

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Evening had set itself upon the Spanish port town. All homes had their candles out and children tucked in bed. The abandoned watermill had some differences, though. While Danny, in his human form, was sleeping soundly, Adriana had remained awake. She was writing in a diary she had always kept with her by candlelight. This explains the reason she had stolen ink earlier. Inside, she wrote (and it will be translated to English just to spare time):

"Dear Diary,

I was almost caught by the Spanish guards today. I ran into a ghost named Danny, who was the reason I was almost caught and how I escaped. It was rather funny, because before I stole the ink from the parchment vender, he said something about a ghost coming to Spain again. He must be the one he was talking about. It's funny. I've robbed him for months, yet he's started speaking of it just a few days ago. I thought he had gone insane, but now it seems Spain might attract more spirits like Danny. I only hope that if they do, they're as kind as Danny is.

Adriana."

After finishing addressing the diary, Adriana blew out the candle and laid herself to bed.

> > > > > >

All homes were sleeping. The shops of the marketplace were all closed. There was still activity, however, on the port. A small ship arrived, with a single passenger leaping off and tying a rope around a post to keep the boat secure. The figure, a male, lit a candle, rather than how one would use a torch, so he would not shed as much light. The light of the candle showed the man's face to have long, dark, dreadlocked hair tied back in a red bandana under a brown hat and a goatee tied as a two-pronged fork. It was clear that he was a pirate. He looked around to see if anyone was on the streets to rat him out. After assuring the coast was clear, he sneaked down the street to do what he had to do.

A closed indoor antique shop had an unwanted visitor. The pirate had entered the shop by picking the lock with his sword. He looked around to find anything valuble before pulling a sack out of his long coat. He had grabbed everything he had his eyes on especially: a large, golden plate, a small, silver tiger statue, an aged vase... well, he couldn't get the vase in his sack, for at the same time, another hand grabbed onto it. He looked up to see a young, Spanish man with a black ponytail and a vest with no shirt.

"Excúseme," the Spaniard started, "yo tenía esto primero."

"If that were to mean you were here first," the Pirate said, "I'd have to say you were wrong."

"Oh, an English speaker," the Spaniard said. "And I feel I heard of you before. The pronged beard, the tacky hat..." He then sniffed the air around him. "The scent of rum. You must be Jack Sparrow."

"_Captain_ Jack Sparrow," the Pirate corrected.

"The title I respect," the Spaniard said, "It's you I don't. Some call you the greatest pirate who ever lived. From the stories I heard, you're just a lucky one." At the end of that sentence, he drew out a sword and threw down a stance, crouching foward with his sword pointed downward. "I am Gustavo, and I will be the last name you'll remember."

"Well I'm Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack said, drawing his sword holding a basic stance, "and I'm the last man you'll ever meet."

Jack took the offense first, with Gustavo guarding all of his attacks. Jack could tell that his opponent's defencive awareness was beyond great after the first five strikes. "Excellent defence," Jack commented. "Now let me see your offence. Strike me."

Gustavo hesitated in confusion before quickly throwing strikes, all of which blocked and countered by Jack. "That's the thing with your stance, mate," Jack went on. "You can't attack as good if your sword's point is at your toes."

"I don't need advice on how to fight," Gustavo said to Jack, quickly lunging at him. They continued their battle until...

"¿Quién está abajo allí?" The shop manager awoken. Jack and Gustavo paused suddenly when they heard the voice and the creaky floorboards from the room above. The stout owner was rubbing his eyes coming down when he saw the two duelists. He came to to realize they very much were two duelists.

"¡Solados!" the owner frightenedly yelled, running out the front door. "¡Bandidos!" Before the swordsmen could know, he was gone, still yelling about an emergency.

"Well," Jack said, "that was interesting." Gustavo took advantage of Jack's amusement to thrust at him again, which Jack had dodged narrowly. It was hit-and-miss to where Gustavo was standing by the front doorway. Jack thrusted, but his sword got stuck when Gustavo's quick thinking got him to dodge and shut the door, using it like a shield. Gustavo rolled past Jack to give him a lunge of his own, to where Jack opened the door, making Gustavo miss completely and lost some of his balance, which gave Jack enough time to retrieve his jammed sword and continue the battle on the streets.

Jack and Gustavo locked swords up, then exchanged blows back to where they were locked up again, in swords and in brown-eyed stares. Jack pushed Gustavo with his boot to get more space. Jack then charged at his opponent with a running swing. Gustavo managed to jump out of the way with a hand spring. Gustavo landed on one knee and retaliated by slicing at Jack's ankles. Jack jumped to avoid becoming two feet short.

Jack found just swordplay was getting him nowhere. Instead, he reached for whatever was in the stand next to him without looking. He showed his opponent what he had planed to attack him with. ...A bundle of bananas? Bewildered, Jack looked at just where he grabbed into. Of all the stands he could be next to, it had to be the fruit stand. Gustavo looked as confused as Jack, then went on to slice the bananas from five to four, then to three, then to two, then to one. Running out of options, Jack put both his hands at the end of his yellow fruit and launched it like a cannon out of its peel, creaming Gustavo square in the face and blinding him. Jack took this oppertunity to attack him, as Gustavo was using almost a sixth sense to avoid Jack's strikes. Gustavo regained his sight and continued to battle with Captain Jack.

"It appears we may have to fight through day break to end this," Gustavo commented.

"I was thinking longer than that," Jack said back.

"¡No se mueva!" a voice commanded. Jack and Gustavo looked in the direction where the voice came to see three soldiers pointing their rifles at them. "¡Coloque sus armas!"

"Intentaba solamente parar a este hombre de robar," Gustavo said to the guards.

"He was here first," Jack said, even though the guards wouldn't understand him anyway.

"¡Ahora coloque sus armas!" the guard yelled, to which Gustavo reacted immediately by dropping his sword. Jack lokked at him and did the same, mostly out of not knowing what the guards wanted. The guards moved foward to sieze the two supposed theives.

"You know," Jack said to Gustavo, "it was just a stupid vase, anyway."

"Oh, shut up," Gustavo responded.

> > > > > >

Well, that's the chapter. Hold your questions, I have a feeling what they are. Most of those questions will be answered on the next chapter. Now review away.


	4. Breaking Out

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 4: Breaking Out

> > > > > >

Morning came to Spain. The sun's orange glow with a deep pink sky lit the country like a candle. It had signaled as a time for awakening to a certain young thief. As Adriana stretched her arms out, she took a look at Danny. He was sleeping like a baby. She went on to shake him up.

"Five more minutes," Danny grumbled.

"I thought you would like to see the town," Adriana said. "The town doesn't usually wake up until blue sky. I thought you'd like a tour. It also gives me a good oppertunity to get some supplies for living."

"So, you steal."

"Yes, but I prefer doing so during the day," she said, putting her hood and cloak on. "I love the danger."

"Well, if that's the case, I'll take a look around. I've never visited outside my own country. Let alone my own time period."

"Great. Let's go. We only have about an hour."

> > > > > >

"This valley is used to transport goods from the other side of the mountain. It's actually quit dangerous. Bandits tend to hide out and ambush any caridges that approach. They steal whatever they could use and, on some occasions, kill the carriage handler. This is why we call this place 'El valle de los ríos rojos y azules', or 'The Valley of the Red and Blue Rivers'. The river here provides me with fresh water, as the watermill provides me a home.

"I'm sure you know the market place. Here, people buy, trade and sell goods. We don't get much royalty to come, but the freshest of fruit, the softest of pilows, the best of anything is spared for them. As you can guess, that's where I come in. I live in royalty with really having to be of it. I'm sure you found it rather homely, but as they say: One person's cave is another's mansion.

"The most valuble of items are kept indoors. They tend to be very difficult to get into. They hold things like precious metals, fine gems, and rare antiquities. The king's best guards guard these facilities. Thieves are consider very great and even more wanted dead when they manage to get in their and steal whatever they could find useful or valuble.

"The port is used to transport and trade with other with other countries. Our main routes go to Italy, France, and Portugal. I normally try to avoid coming near here. My father was a sailor and... I think you ought to know the rest."

"¡Consígame de aquí!" A voice was heard by the area where the prison was. "¡No pertenezco aquí!"

"What's that?" Danny said, his attention at the jail.

"That's the jail," Adriana said, "but I think I heard that voice before." She ran to the jail just to see who exactly it was. "Come with me, Danny!"

Danny just shruged and followed.

> > > > > >

The prison hold is a sub-leveled building, made to match the lowness of the scum who dwelled there. The only light they recieve is that of the barred window, which from the building looked like modern day sewer gutters. Again, highly appropriate.

"¡No pertenezco con este colorete!" Gustavo shouted, hoping for his innocence.

"You know," his cellmate, Jack Sparrow, said, "you're not going prove anything. Just that you're insane, mate."

"Do you think you can do any better?" Gustavo asked his cellmate.

"Maybe," Jack answered. "But then again, I know where I was that night."

Gustavo had clearly had just about enough. "Listen, you, I've had it up to here with your..."

"¿Quién está abajo allí?" Gustavo was interupted by a girl's voice. He looked up at the barred windows to find a familiar, yet displeasing, face.

"Espere un minuto," she continued, "usted son ese vendedor del pergamino."

"Sí," Gustavo replied back, "y usted es ese ladrón que robó mi tinta ayer."

"Look, darling," Jack butted in, "I don't speak any Spaniard, but I can guarantee he's lying. He has all the way over here."

"But I know this man," the girl said, her language change startling Jack. "He sells parchment at the marketplace."

"So you speak... And he's a..." Jack was at a loss of words at what he had just heard. "You sell paper, and you can swordfight?"

"Yes, I'm sell parchment and other writing goods," Gustavo said, just to put the nerves on Jack. "And yes, I practice swordplay. It's a hobby. And this is the thief who should be here for stealing some of my ink, rather than myself."

"Actually there's a reason why you're here and she's not. She knows how not to get caught." Gustavo fumed as Jack walked over to the window to meet the girl. "I don't believe we've had our proper salutations, have we, love?"

"My name is Adriana," the girl said.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack said, kissing the back of Adriana's hand like a gentleman. "Pleasure to meet you. And who's the young bloke behind you?"

"Oh, him?" Adriana said, waving for the boy to come up. "This is Danny Phantom."

"It's Danny Fenton, actually," Danny said. "'Phantom' is just kind of a nickname."

"Danny," Jack repeated, firmly shaking Danny's hand, "short for Daniel, I presume. So tell me, why do they call you 'Phantom'?"

"Enough of these silly hi-ho introductions," Gustavo rudely inturupted. He shoved Jack away from the window with words of his own. "Look, we were wrongfully imprisoned here. Well, I was anyway. I need you to right my name."

"Why do you constantly think you're innocent?" Jack said, quite peeved. "You were trying to steal that vase, too.

"It's NOT just a vase!" Gustavo shouted furiously. "It's a MAP!"

"A map?" Jack said, showing immediate interest. The intrest also caught the teenagers observing. He then started to chuckle at his Spanish rival. "I see it now. You want to steal the vase, grab a ship, then go on this hunt to whatever this map leads to. You want to be a pirate. I say you can count me in, mate." He extended his hand to shake.

"You're right at that, Sparrow. You forgot to mention one thing, though." At the end of that, Gustavo shook hands with the pirate. "I'll need all the help I can get, Captain. So, how do we get out of here?"

"I can help with that," Danny said. "Grab my hand. Trust me on this."

Jack went to grab Danny's hand first, while Gustavo scoffed at whatever Danny had planned was ridiculous, thinking Danny would try to squeeze Jack through the bars. Instead, Jack went right through them. Gustavo looked as his cellmate was on the other side of the prison in mere seconds. "That's interesting," was all Jack could say. "You get Gustavo out of there. I'm going to go get my things." Jack went into the prison front to do what he said he would. Gustavo still remained wide-eyed as Danny threw his hand to him.

"How did you do that?" Gustavo asked.

"Well, if you wanna know," Danny said, "the truth is I'm half ghost. Hence the name 'Phantom'."

"You're that ghost!" Gustavo paniced.

"Apparently so," Danny said. "Now let's get you outta there."

Gustavo hesitated for a while, then grabbed on. He was pulled straight through the bars. After it was done, Gustavo was still bewildered on what had just happened. Jack came back with a gun and three swords. "Well, that was easier than I thought," Jack said. He went off listing off his items. He then began listing off the items he was carrying. "My gun, my sword, Gustavo's sword, and for you, Danny, you'll want to learn how to use this." At that, he tossed a sheathed sword to Danny. "I don't know what else you can do, but on the high seas, that can tell the difference between life and death."

"Cool," was all Danny could say.

Well, what are we waiting for?" Adriana said. "We got a vase to steal."


	5. What It All Means

First some announcements. #1: Thanks for the positive feedback. #2: This story is now avaliable for viewing at deviantart(dot)com. Leave a review there if you'd like. That's about it.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 5: What It All Means

> > > > > >

The afternoon was a bustling day at the marketplace. Gustavo resumed his position at the parchment stand, trying to avoid any contact with the patroling guards. After making another sell, he signaled for someone to come up and peek upon the marketplace. Danny, Jack, and Adriana poked their heads up as Gustavo bent over to speak with them. "The antiquity shop is just two buildings to our right," he told his comrades.

"Good," Jack said. "We attack at night."

"Night's too long from now," Danny whispered back.

"Are you suggesting we steal the vase now?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Danny, it's broad daylight," Adriana added, "and there has to be people in that shop right now."

"Just relax," Danny said, as if having a plan. "I'm gonna go into the store the only way I can: by not being seen. Jack, after I disappear, I want you to casually walk into the store."

An awkward silence came after. "So then what?" Jack asked, hoping for more. Instead, Danny just disappered as he said. "Strange, and I didn't even have any ruum today."

"Nevermind that," Gustavo said. "Just do as he says. Walk into the shop and don't bring any attention to you. But, you being dressed as you are, I don't see how that's possible."

"Just watch me," Jack said, first assuring the coast was clear, then jumping over Gustavo's stand and walking casually over to the antique shop.

"¿Por qué tengo una sensación negativa enorme sobre esto?" Gustav asked himself in his native tounge.

"Ese marcas dos de nosotros," Adriana added.

> > > > > >

Jack walked into the shop. As expected, there were three witnesses: the shopkeeper and two customers. Whatever Danny had planned, Jack had a strong gut feeling it just fail, for he didn't see Danny anywhere. "Hello, my friend," the shopkeeper said to Jack, in perfect English, yet in horrible accent. "Welcome to my antique store. What can I do for you?"

Jack had a long pause as the shopkeeper approached him. The shopkeeper should've yelled for the guards by now, but went on highly friendly. "Look, sir," Jack said," I've had an odd day today, and you've just about made it even more strange."

"Jack, it's me, Danny," the shopkeeper whispered to Jack, causing him to jump since he sounded just like he said he was.

"Danny?" Jack said. "You looked a lot different than you did a couple of seconds ago. And I still didn't have any rum, looking at it this way."

"If you need an explaination," Danny started, "I used my ghost powers to overshadow the shopkeeper. We can get the vase right here and now if you just play it cool."

"Alright," Jack whispered to him. "Just one question, though. How do I 'play it cool'?"

"Just play along," Danny responded. And with that, he went back to his horrible Spanish accent and asked Jack, "So, what brings you to my fine establishment, señor?"

"Well," Jack said, getting the idea, "I just thought I'd browse around for a bit, and my fancy was caught by that vase over there."

"Ah, perfect," Danny said, doing what he could to sound convincing. "Come with that with me to the counter. You can pay for it there."

Jack had put on a rather fake smile. Like many pirates, he didn't have any money. He wondered why Danny had asked for a payment when they clearly agreed on stealing the vase.

At the counter, Danny suddenly shouted, "Well, what do you know? You're my one thousanth customer. Congratulations!"

"I... see," Jack said, not quite getting the idea. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Danny said, "You don't have to pay for that vase. It's yours for the taking. Go on, take it and leave."

As Jack went to exit with the vase, he paused and said, "You know, while I'm here, is it possible I can take whatever I want around here, Shoppy."

"Oh, no," Dany replied. "I'm sure you have a lot of people you want to show that vase to, like a _thief_, or that _paper salesman_, and, just out of the blue, a _ghost_. Now go away, you're bothering me." Danny said these three items by winking at Jack at each point. He was unaware that the other two browsers were giving them odd looks.

A long, awkward came as Jack was still figuring out whether the shopkeeper was normal or not. Realizing it was Danny again, he said, "Oh, I know exactly what you mean. Well, sir, I do believe I should be on my way and show some good friends of mine my latest _purchase_ at the antiquity's." He winked at purchase, giving Danny a nervous chuckle. "I bid you farewell." With that, Jack exited.

Giving a sigh of relief and seeing no point in staying in the shopkeeper any longer, Danny flew out of him. The shopkeeper collapsed as soon as Danny went out, causing the other two customers to rush to his aid.

> > > > > >

Outside the shop, Gustavo and Adriana were waiting. As Jack exited, vase in hand, he noticed his Spanish teammates to his immideate left. "So," he started, "how did I do?"

"You weren't exactly convincing," Gustavo said, "but not everyone in the town understands English."

"After we see Danny," Adriana said, "we ought to retreat back to the watermill. We can figure out what all those symbols on the vase mean there."

"Good," Gustavo added. "I have maps of Europe to help decipher it. I took some classes in cartogrophy. It's a hobby."

After Danny reappeared, Adriana told everyone to follow her back to the watermill.

> > > > > >

Night had come. Outside the watermill, Jack was training Danny on the arts of swordplay. Inside, Gustavo was looking at the vase carefully to figure out its meaning. Also inside, and by candlelight, Adriana was filling another page in her diary.

**(NOTICE: Adriana writes in her diary in Spanish. Since I don't wanna translate the entire thing, the entries will be shown in English)**

_"Dear diary,_

_You won't believe this, but I'm going to go on a treasure hunt with a real pirate. His name is Jack Sparrow, and his is much more of a gentleman than any other pirates I've heard of. Right now, Jack is training Danny on sword fighting, with some help from Gustavo, the parchment salesman. Gustavo found a map on a vase, and is trying to fisure out just what the drawings and pictures mean on it. They could either mean that there is a valuble treasure, or that it's just a vase. I really hope it's a treasure, because I always wanted to see what lied beyond the ocean, even if it did take my father. I'm full of anxiousness and fear all at once. I only hope none of us meet my father's fate._

_-Adriana."_

"¡Lo encontré!" Gustavo's voice of discovery boomed across the watermill. His three companions gathered around him suddenly to see the big deal.

"Any luck on that?" Danny asked.

"Luck?" Gustavo said. "It's more than just that. I found the treasure's location." Gustavo turned the vase to a side with a dragon on it. "Tell me what you see."

"Uh... a dragon?" Danny guessed.

"Not just a dragon," Gustavo answered, "this is Europe." He then unfolded a map of Europe to show the simularities. "As you can see, there is something resembling a coin near the dragon's foot. That foot is the boot-shaped country of Italy. This reams the treasure is somewhere near Italy; however, there are these other markings on the vase, and some clear writing on it's lip. I don't know what either the markings or the writing mean."

"So," Danny said, "I take we're gonna have to go to Italy then."

"That's perfect," Jack said. "Not only do I have a ship, but I also happen to know some people from Italy. At least on of them should know what that means. At night, we gather, and by dawn, we set sail on the Hairy Turtle!"

Jack's would-be crew just stared at him, along with an awkward silence. "You named your ship the Hairy Turtle?" Adriana bewilderly asked.

"Jack, didn't you have another ship?" Gustavo asked.

"Ah, yes, the Black Pearl," Jack said. "Let me tell you something, mates: next time you party on Tortuga, make sure you leave on the right ship."

"You named your ship the Hairy Turtle?" Danny repeated.

"The Turtle's about half the size of the Pearl," Jack continued, "but it was the best ship I could hijack. It's perfect for a small crew such as ourselves. We can resupply ourselves in Italy."

"You named your ship the Hairy Turtle?" Danny and Adriana said in unison, still shocked by the ridiculous name.

"If you're that edgy on the name, I got it from how I managed to escape dying on a deserted island. I rounded up a bundle of sea turtles and tied them together with human hair. ...From my back." Danny, Adriana, and Gustavo cringed at Jack's story.

"Well, name aside," Adriana said, "how can you be sure the four of us can manage."

"Correction!" Gustavo rudely blurted. "The _three_ of us. It's pure bad luck to bring a woman on a ship."

"Correction!" Jack copied. "I had a woman on the crew of the Black Pearl, and I can assure you that there was no bad luck when she was there."

"If that's the case, why do you not have the Black Pearl now?"

Jack paused and thought for a second. Giving up, he said, "Oh, you're good."

"But..." Adriana was speechless.

"Look, Adriana," Danny said, trying to comfort her, "I'm against what Gustavo's saying too, but this is really the only way they'll go on this quest. Just accept that."

Adriana sighed and pouted, "Alright."

"Well, enough arguing," Jack said. "We've got a big day ahead of us." He blew out the candle, signaling time for sleep.

"But it's called the Hairy Turtle," Danny said in the dark.

> > > > > >

That's it. Fell free to post comments here or on deviantart. My name there is still HauntingYourKids.


	6. Set Sail

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 6: Set Sail

> > > > > >

The port at night was an eerie place to be. The sloshing of the waves and the creaking of the ships could send tingles down anyone's spine. It didn't matter at this point, for three figures in the night, Danny, Jack, and Gustavo, were supplying on their ship, the Hairy Turtle. The name couldn't strike fear into many, and it's size couldn't do so either, but for now, it wasn't trying to strike fear into anyone.

"All right, mates," Captain Jack said to his crew. "Have we all that we'll be needing? Food, lighting, weapons, ammunition, powder, fresh water? Say, shouldn't Danny be here?" Jack looked along the port to see Danny struggling with a flat crate.

"What do you keep in here?" Danny panted. "I can barely lift this."

"Oh, apples, oranges, grapes," Jack listed off, "all those fruits that grow along here. You don't want to be catching scurvy around here. Nasty little illness."

"Are you sure you're not bringing bricks, too?" Danny asked.

"What do we need bricks for?" Jack asked, not fully understanding what Danny meant.

"Nevermind. Could one of you guys help me with this."

Jack and Gustavo looked at eachother, which lead to Jack nudging his head, signaling Gustavo to help the ghost-boy out. Shrugging, Gustavo went down to help Danny with the crate. After the crate was put down on the ship, Jack adressed his crew. "Alright, mates. We got a vase that leads us to Italy, enough supplies to get us there, a friend up in Italy bound to know whatever's on that vase, and, most importantly, a ship that'll get us there. If we leave now, we'll be unnoticed by dawn, or at least far enough for those guards to not care anymore. Danny, raise the anchors! Gustavo, ready the sails! Bring me that..." Before Jack could finish his order, a musket flew directly at him, knocking his hat off. He bent over to pick it up and notice the damage. "I really liked that hat." He looked up to notice an armed guard on the crow's nest of a ship not to far from his own.

"¡Ustedes no dejarán este puerto!" the guard yelled to the pirate.

"Well, you owe me a new hat!" Jack responded.

"He just said we won't be leaving here," Gustavo said to Jack.

"He's gonna fire again," Danny said quickly going into his ghost form and shooting an ectoplasmic beam at the guard. The guard collapsed to the deck below. Jack and Gustavo, who have never seen Danny in his ghost form, were quite shocked at his change.

"Did you just-" Jack started to asked.

"Stunned him," Danny answered. "We can still get out of here." At that, he phased below deck to raise the anchors. Jack and Gustavo quickly went to the sails to set them down. The moment the sails were set, a bell was ringing from the opposing ship.

"Come on, move," Jack was telling the ship, "move, move. Reinforcements are coming. Move!" The ship started moving slowly, but not fast enough. Soldiers were coming from the allies as soon as Danny had phased up from below deck, noticing the stormong troops.

"Ready your blades, mates!" Jack said to his crew, drawing his sword. "We're not going down so easily."

The ship moved far enough so not many guards could jump onto the ship. Four guards managed to successfully reach the ship. A fifth guard had managed to grab onto the edge, but lost his grip and fell to the cold ocean. The other guards had decided, after seeing that, it wasn't a good idea to continue.

"Four on three," Gustavo said. "Doesn't seem fair."

"You're right," Danny added. "There's not enough guards." The two groups collided with eachother to determine just where the Hairy Turtle will go.

Jack dueled one guard. At first crossing swords, the guard took to the offense first. A series of blocks lead to a horizontal slash, which Jack easily rolled under, swapping positions. Jack took offense, making his shots blockable intentionally, just to push back his adversary to the side wall of the ship. When the guard noticed he had little place to go, Jack disarmed him with a quick swing at is sword. Jack could easily do away with the guard, but instead, took several slices at the guard's hat, putting it in a total wreck. "A hat for a hat," Jack said to the guard, now in a nervous sweat. "Savvy?" He pushed the guard off deck afterwards, laughing in gloat and in victory.

Danny had little experience in sword fighting, as he had just started to learn it. He mostly played on defense with the guard he was facing. One would think Danny would have the advantage, since he was floating off the ground, yet he was disarmed quite quickly. Danny managed to escape a vertical slash by phasing through it, and through the guard. With the guard off guard, Danny grabbed him by his collar, flew to the side of the ship, and launched the guard into the ocean.

Gustavo had it differently. He was dueling two guards at once. Gustavo kept his defense up the steps to the captain's wheel. He found himself cornered at the main mast. The two guards both took a lunge at Gustavo. They got their swords stuck in the mast after Gustavo jumped up to dodge. Now on top of the caught blades, Gustavo kicked the guard to his left square in the jaw, making him let go of his sword to tend for it. Gustavo grabbed the blade the guard had left behind and, rather than stab him, gave a leapping kick to the guard, causing him to fly overboard. Gustavo looked back to see the other guard freeing his sword. Gustavo now had an advantage, since he was now weilding two blades. The guard proved no match for the double-bladed parchment man, as he was disarmed in a few moments. The guard had no further plan to battle with Gustavo and stepped back as his opponent edged in. "Salto justo adentro," Gustavo told the guard. He did so by turning tail and jumping in the ocean.

Gustavo laughed in delight as he tossed one sword over his shoulder. "We showed them, didn't we?" he said to his fellow shipmates. Their celebration was brought to an abrupt halt as the Spanish guard was firing at them from their own ship.

"¡Dé vuelta alrededor y entregúese!" one guard, likely the captain, yelled to the Hairy Turtle.

"What does he want, Gustavo?" Jack asked for a translation.

"They want to give up," Gustavo answered.

"Not on my watch!" Danny said, charging up to the back of the ship. Danny started forming a ball with his hands as a ball of ectoplasm was forming between them.

"Do something fast," Jack warned, "they're gaining on us."

As soon as Jack finished that sentence, Danny launched his shot at the bottom front of the ship. Direct hit. The ship quickly began to take on water water, and its crew took notice. Just to add insult to injury, Danny blasted two more holes into the opposing ship. It wasn't long before the Spanish guard grabbed whatever they could to keep balance.

"Gentlemen," Jack shouted to the sinking ship, "you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow and his rowdy crew!"

"Los caballeros," Gustavo shouted, providing as an interpreter, "¡ustedes recordará siempre esto como el día que usted casi cogió a capitán Jack Sparrow y su equipo loco!" The crew of the Hairy Turtle had a good laugh in victory as dawn came.

"So," Danny said, changing back to his normal form, "we're off on a treasure hunt for a treasure near Italy. Where's our first pit stop?"

"The Italian port town of Poca Città," Jack informed. "I've been there several times and know quite a number of people. One of them must know what those things on that vase means."

With a course set, the Hairy Turtle took sail to the east to Italy.


	7. A Stowaway

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 7: A Stowaway

> > > > > >

The lowest level of the ship had lots of room in it. Several supply crates were stored there, but it was still very roomy. It was a perfect place for sword fighting lessons. Gustavo took Danny down to the room for just that.

"There are many things to learn about sword fighting," Gustavo told Danny. "One of the most important, Danny, is the stance. They have their own strengths and weaknesses. Let us view mine." Gustavo drew his sword and pointed it downward, leaning over with his right foot in front of his left after. "This stance is good for defense, for since my sword is lowered, I can respond more quickly to enemy strikes by a swift movement of the arm and the wrist. While I can easily slice your feet off of your ankles, offense is quite lacking. An upper body strike would normally take two movement, rather than one. Now, let's see how you choose to stand."

Before Danny unsheathed his sword, he went into his ghost form. He had found it as sort of a confidence booster, mostly in the heat of battle against other ghosts. Afterwards, he drew his blade and held it horizontally over his head with his knees bent.

"I know exactly how that stance works," Gustavo said. "You have an offensive advantage with quick stabs, but how can you defend yourself when your sword is so high up?"

"I dunno," Danny shrugged. "I just thought it'd look cool."

"If that's supposed to mean good," Gustavo said, "I'll agree with that. Now, on to training. This simple excercise will help with your awareness while moveing. I strike, and you block. You'll be moving back, so memorize your surroundings well. I'll attack left, right, up, down, right, left, and at the end, we cross blades. We'll start slowly, and pick up the pace after more succesions."

"I think I can do that," Danny said.

"Then let's begin," Gustavo said. His first strikes were rather slow, for it was just a starting attack. Danny was starting to get the hang of Gustavo's attacks, as they steadily increased in speed. When the two ran out of room, the switched spots, for despite enough area, they do start to run out. Gustavo was now blazing at Danny, who was having a little trouble trying to keep up.

At their final cross blade, Gustavo commented, "You learn quickly, Danny. I like that." The compliment was interupted when a black substance dropped between their blades from above. Gustavo dabbed his finger on the substance, gave it a lick, then immediatly spat it back out. "Ink."

"I'll go check," Danny said, then phased through the roof.

When Danny phased up to the upper storage room, he noticed a small trail of ink leding to a knothole. The trail came from an ink vial, which laid next to a familiar Spanish thief. He saw Adriana writing in her diary, and shortly, Adriana took notice of him. Adriana screamed at him, Danny screamed at her, and Danny quickly phased down to the lower level.

"Who screamed?" Gustavo asked, making Danny jump, even if he was in the air.

"Oh, uh," Danny said, hesitating for an answer, "that was me."

"I know that," Gustavo said, "who screamed after?"

"Hey, I do not scream like a girl," Danny defended.

"So there _is_ a girl up there," Gustavo said, which made Danny bite his lip in nervousness. "I _knew_ that was her. I think I'll just 'introduce' her to the captain. I thank you Danny for finding a stowaway." At that, Gustavo bowed and exited as Danny slapped is head in defeat.

> > > > > >

As evening came to the ocean, the setting sun gave Jack the direction where to go. The sun setted West, which led Jack to steer the opposite. He'd normally follow his compass if it could point north. He was interupted by Gustavo holding Adriana at the wrists. "Captain," he addressed, "I've found a stowaway. That thief again."

"Well, if it isn't Adriana," Jack said, recognizing the girl. "I never thought I'd see you here."

"Enough idle chit-chat," Gustavo interupted. "You're the captain, give the order's for what we should do to her."

"Oh, so you want me to punish her," Jack said. "Well first, I want you to loosen the grip on the young lass."

"What?" Gustavo was almost at nerve's end at that order. "But she'll try to get away!"

"We're in the middle of the ocean, mate. She can't go anywhere. And besides, you doing that to her is like me..." Jack quickly unsheathed his sword and put it upon Gustavo's throat, making him flinch a bit, "...doing this to you. Savvy?"

Before another movement was made, Danny phased to the deck then went to his regular form. "Gustavo, don't do any-..." He paused at what he was seeing.

"Hello, Danny," was all Adriana could say in the current scene he was seeing.

"Look, Jack," Danny said to the captain, "I don't like Gustavo much either, but don't you think that's going a little too far?"

While the comment made Gustavo more frustrated than he already was, he threw down Adriana's wrists, which let Jack able to sheath his sword. "Captain Sparrow," Adriana said, "I know what I did was wrong and would like to apologize. I'll take whatever punishment you have in store for me."

"Well, first and foremost," Jack began, "welcome aboard the Hairy Turtle. Secondly, you're really more on crew duty rather then punishment. You'll be sailing us all the way to Poca Città, Italy, and it's quite a long sail, about two or three more days from-"

"¡Espere un minuto!" Gustavo blurted. "You can't have a woman, let alone a girl, all the way to Italy."

"Gustavo," Adriana said, a bit peeved, "unless sexism is another one of your hobbies, I suggest you stay out of this."

"Besides," Jack added, "I didn't say she'll be taking us to Poca Città completely. You'll be steering at night."

"What?" Gustavo was fuming at the captains commands.

"It's a long voyage, Gustavo," Jack told him. "You don't want poor, little Adriana taking us to Italy all by herself, do you?" Adriana put on a cute puppy face just to make Gustavo feel worse. Based on Gustavo's reactions, Jack, Danny, or Adriana couldn't tell if it was working or not.

"Le odio," Gustavo said to Adriana as he stormed down to the lower deck.

"So," Danny said, "why are you really letting Adriana stay?"

"Two reasons," Jack said. "One: according to Gustavo, she's quite the thief. If we need supplies, she can just grab them. And two: it's too much fun making Gustavo angry." The three shared a laugh as they continued their voyage to Italy.


	8. Little Italy, Big Treasure

In this chapter, I've finally decided to give the town Danny starts off in a name. It's incredibly lame, but as long as only a few of you know what it means, it won't matter. Also, new character. 

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 8: Little Italy, Big Treasure

> > > > > >

_"Dear Diary,_

_It's been three days since we began setting sail. Danny is getting a lot better at swordplay. He learns quickly from what Jack and Gustavo are teaching him. Gustavo is just as short tempered as ever. He threatened me again, twice. I don't think anything will ever change between us. As for Jack, he's still as goofy as ever. He fell overboard after drinking too much rum. Of all the crew, I'm worried about him the most. Nothing's really happened with me much, for I've just been steering us to Poca Città. Jack said we should be there soon. Until then, I feel I'm just steering blind._

_Adriana"_

"Land ho!" Danny yelled from the front of the ship. All eyes turned to Danny's direction as a port came into view. They ran to the front to take a better view at the first piece of land they've seen in days.

"That's Poca Città, mates," Jack said to his crew. Afterward, he gave the commands of, "Adriana, set full course to that port!"

> > > > > >

The Hairy Turtle was docked, the toll was paid, and the crew was on glorious land. To Adriana and Gustavo, the Poca Città bazaar was pretty reminicent to Puerto de España, their hometown. Gustavo was holding the vase, which brought some attention to the crew from most of the townies. "This is Poca Città," Jack said, introducing the little Italian town. "This is one of the most active ports in Italy. But seeing how it's the only Italian port I've been to, it shouldn't really matter.

While Jack was talking, Adriana, almost intensionally, bumped into a nicely dress round man. "Me disculpo," Adriana told him, shortly being cut off by Jack.

"Wait a minute," Jack said, turning to the man Adriana bumped into. He started to run after him. "Excuse me, sir!" The man turned around at Jack and smiled as though recognizing him.

"Jack Sparrow!" he said.

"Donny-boy!" Jack responded. The two exchanged words for a short while and Jack brought the man to his shipmates.

"Lady, gentlemen, and Gustavo," Jack said, "this is a good friend of mine, Mister Donatello Rotondo. You can just call him Don or Donny."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Don said. Don was evidently in his fifties, with a grey beard and a matching balding head. While his fine clothes made him look like a powerful person, Don didn't have much in the height department, for he was smaller then Danny, but he was plenty wide.

"So what's so good about this man?" Gustavo asked Jack.

"From what Jack told me," Don said walking over to Gustavo, "you're on a treasure hunt of some sorts, and that vase in your hands is the best thing you got to getting there. Let me take a look at that." Don took a pair of reading glasses out from his pocket, put them over his eyes, and examined the vase. He took great attention at the top and exclaimed, "Aha! The text on the top of this vase is Latin. Not many people speak it today, but I know what's written there. You come to my place, and we'll get straight to business. And one more thing." Don changed his attention to Jack's ship. "Is that the Black Pearl? It looks, how you say, pathetic."

"Actually," Jack answered, "I lost the Black Pearl. ...Again. That is the Hairy Turtle."

"You named your ship the Hairy Turtle?" Don asked.

"Don't ask," Danny, Adriana, and Gustavo said, all in unison.

"Well, enough of that," Don said. "Let's go to my place."

> > > > > >

Jack had told Don about their quest so far, about Danny, the Hairy Turtle, anything he thought Don would like to know. At a small house, Don knocked on the front door three times, first once, then twice rapidly. A slit opened with a set of eyes looking through. "Parola d'accesso?" a voice said from behind the door.

"Serpente nell'erba," Don whispered. The door opened as the doorman welcomed Don in followed by a frenzy of verbal welcomings to him.

"Wow," Danny said to Jack, "Don must be really popular here."

"I consider these folk to be Don's crew," Jack said. "Not exactly seaworthy by the look of them, though." Don said several things to the men in the house, all in Italian, almost as if he were giving orders. He ended his statements by clapping his hands and pointing his thumb over his shoulder, almost like a "get to it" kind of deal. The men followed and exited the door.

"I can't believe this," a rather excited Danny said. "I just witnessed a meeting with probably the first Italian mafia."

"I really don't know what that means," Don responded while taking a seat on a near-by table. "I just like to say that I know some people who know some people."

"So, what did you say to them," Adriana asked.

"I told them to get supplies for your ship," Don said. "Things like food, water, and since you don't have any cannons, I asked them to get one or two for you."

"I see," Adriana said. "I guess you'll be needing this back." She tossed a bag of coins onto Don's table. Shocked, Don checked around his coat to find to pockets empty.

"Thieves," Gustavo sighed, rolling his eyes.

"She's a good one, though," Don said, shocking Gustavo on how someone could take sides with a thief, even if he could easily put himself in that catagory. "Now let me see that vase." Gustavo placed the vase on Don's table. Don put his reading glasses on again and translated the text on the top of the vase aloud.

_"Tales tell of a treasure worth the value of the gods. A treasure with such great value, Jupiter hidden it from his own envy and that of others. He hidden the treasure only to those who know of its existance. They must prove worthy of the treasure by facing against beauties, a beast, and all those who parished before them. Only those who seek it will face these obsticles. Should one triumph, the treasure is their's."_

"Does that come with subtitles?" Danny asked, not fully comprehensing what Don just read.

"I think what it means is," Gustavo explained, "since we'll be looking for the treasure, these obsticles will affect us. Other sailors probably sailed towards the treasure, but since they had no prior knowledge to it, let alone any interest, these things just let them be."

"A treasure with a deadly challenge to it," Jack said to himself, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. "I like the sound of that."

"There seems to be more," Don said, examining pictures painted on the vase. "Almost like an illustrated story."

"What's it say?" Gustavo asked. Don looked at him and chuckled.

"You've looked at ths vase before, Gustavo," Don told him. "Can't you even remember that there isn't any text under, above, or anywhere of the sorts by the pictures. I think I can figure out what they mean." An anxious look came to Jack's face. As a pirate, he was most interested. "But then again, why do today what you can do tomorrow?" He let out a hearty laugh as Jack's face went quickly to depressed.

"Excuse me, Don," Danny said, "but don't you mean 'Why do tomorrow what you can do today'?"

"That's how it normally goes," Don said, with yet another laugh, "but when you get as old and fat as me, things tend to change. I'll look back at that vase first thing in the morning. In the meantime, night is coming. We should all get some rest." Don got up and retired to a different room. Adriana couldn't help but be curious.

"But the sun hasn't even completely set yet," Adriana said.

Jack laughed and said, "Don hasn't changed a bit."

> > > > > >

Day had come to Poca Città. The sunlight slowly creaked into the house of Don Rotondo, but it didn't affect the crew of the Hairy Turtle sleeping there. What did was the cry of an old, fat man which went, "Lo ho trovato!" It startled Danny, Adriana, and Gustavo, but Jack woke up as if it were an everyday alarm clock.

"He found something," Jack said drowzily. He got up and told the rest to follow him down.

Downstairs, Don was waiting, dressed more casually then last they seen him, with the vase next to him. "Glad to see you four here," Don welcomed his guests. "I made an amazing discovery on this treasure you're looking for. It's a treasure beyond any of your wildest dreams."

"Uncountable gold coins?" Adriana asked.

"A gold ship?" Jack asked with equal participation.

"A gold time machine?" Danny asked, then quickly added, "Uh, gold optional?"

"These picture tell a story," Don said, "of a treasure greater then any of those things, how it got here, and why it's so greatly guarded." He proceded to faceing the more illustrated side of the vase, telling the story while pointing to the pictures that represented what he told.

_"A long time ago, Vulcan forged a golden staff for the great King Jupiter to hold. In it, it contained the power of the elements: the fires of Vulcan, the earth moving abilities of Ceres, the thunder of Jupiter, the waters of Neptune, and the winds of Uranus."_

Don's story was cut off by the snickering of Danny, who gained looks of all those around him. "What's so funny?" Don asked.

"Nothing," Danny said hiding his laughter. Don ignored the incident, went "As I was saying...", and continued telling.

_"The wielder of this staff would have the ability to control these elements. When Vulcan presented the gift to Jupiter, Jupiter quickly denied it, deeming it too powerful. Rather then destroying such a beautiful piece, he threw it down to Earth, along with other valuble golden items that he didn't need. Jupiter knew that any mortal could easily get to the staff and claim it for their own, along with godlike powers. He set three challenges to block anyone from reaching it. That of a beauties, a beast, and all those who have parished before them. Knowing these were too dangerous, Jupiter only set them to people who were after any of the treasure, just to have a little fun. Unknowingly to Jupiter, Vulcan gave the staff a sixth power. No one in the heavens know what it is, but it is said that it can kill the other elements. That is the only clue Vulcan has given."_

"The rest is up to you," Don ended.

"Wait," Danny said, "you're just gonna leave us in some sort of cliffhanger?"

"No, of course not," Don laughed. "This vase and I are coming with you. There could be much more secrets on this that I haven't figured out yet."

"Oh, I see," Jack smirked. "You really want to claim that staff for yourself and become the most powerful man in Italy. Don, you dog."

"Of course not!" Don shouted in defense. "That thing is much too dangerous on Earth. I say we get to that treasure and do what Jupiter himself couldn't do. Also, I never been sailing before. I'm ready for the adventure you four have in store."

"Well, I don't have any objections," Gustavo said.

"Donny-boy," Jack said, extending his arm, " welcome aboard the Hairy Turtle." Don extended his arm and shook hands with the captain.

"That's great," Don smiled. "My people should have your ship loaded by now. I suggest we head toward the docks right now."

> > > > > >

As the last of the supplies were loaded on the Hairy Turtle, Don said his good-byes to his people and went aboard the ship. As the ship set sail, Danny couldn't help but think what he got himself into, let alone if any of this will get him home. Maybe his ghost powers will be able to help Jack and the others get to the treasure, and his improving sword fighting skill could help too. But would any treasure help comfort his homesickness?


	9. Wierd Sirens

Along with the feedback, I'd like to give biggest thanks to Anne Camp. Truthfully, I never would've thought of what you typed, now it the chapter's opener. Well, you know, besides the disclaimer and stuff.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 9: Wierd Sirens

> > > > > >

It's been a several hours since the Hairy Turtle set sail. Up in its crow's nest, Danny lied there with his feet hanging over the end, half asleep. "Ugh," he moaned. "So bored." Danny had never gone so long without television and his computer. The only entertainment he got now was sword training with Jack and Gustavo and watching them argue. The disturbing hush of the open seas gave no equalities of a pleasure cruise.

Below the nest, Jack was pacing around the mast it was mounted on, pondering to himself what most of the vase could mean. He knew Don was on the case, but he couldn't help but wonder to himself. He was suddenly startled by Adriana, who to him, appeared suddenly.

"How long has Danny been up there?" Adriana asked to Jack.

"Oh," Jack pondered, "an hour, maybe. I lost count. He must be a landlover."

"I think I know what land he loves," Adriana said, sorrowly. She didn't know much about homesickness, since she never really had a home. She did live in an old watermill, but not a family to go to.

"Ah, yes," Jack said, twisting a point in his beard. "He's not really from this time. Poor boy."

"Can you hoist me up there?" Adriana asked. Jack started to respond, but it generated into chuckle of discovery.

"I think I get it," Jack grinned. "You like him don't you?"

Hesitating, Adriana responded, "No! I'm just worried."

"They always say that," Jack said to himself. He turned his attention back to Adriana, "Alright, I'll hoist you up there. Get me that rope."

"Aye-aye!" Adriana said to the captain, saluting him.

> > > > > >

Danny continued laying down on the crow's nest doing the only mildly amusing thing he could: looking at clouds thinking of what they resemble. One he found resmbled a duck, which was shortly blocked off by Adriana's head. Danny screamed and scurried to the edge of the nest. Adriana couldn't help but giggle at Danny's startledness. "Geez," Danny panted, holding his chest. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack or something?"

"I just wanted to check on you," Adriana said to Danny. "You've been up here for a really long time."

"It's just..." Danny paused, thinking of how to put it in a way Adriana could understand. "You ever had a place you could call home? A place you were really close to with people who love you?"

Adriana looked down and shook her head. "I never really found any home to live," she told him. "I don't have a home or a family. The closest item I have to me is my diary." She pulled her diary with a feather pen in where she last written, of a pouch on a special waistband she had on. It also heldviles of ink used to write in it. "It's the only person I can talk to. But it's not much fun when the only person you talk to doesn't respond back."

"It's not just that," Danny said as Adriana put her diary back. "I'm incredibly bored. Back in my time, there were lots of things to do. Now that we're in the open ocean, there's... not much. There are things like movies and..." Danny paused, just thinking that since he was in the late 1600s, Adriana wouldn't have an idea what Danny was talking about. "Movies are like adventures from far away places that you can see in a different place. Then there are video games, which are like a story that you have full control of. The music of home is probably the best out there." Danny was going to continue until he was cut off by what he was just talking about. "Speaking of which, what is that?"

"It sounds like... singing," Adriana answered. She looked down to see Jack slowly walking to the wheel. Danny looked down to see the door to the sitting rooms to see Don and Gustavo slowly walking to the side of the ship.

"This this strike you as creepy?" Danny asked. He noticed the singing getting louder, and the boat starting to rock. It started light, but the intensity grew as did the singing. The teens then saw where the source of the singing came from. It came from beautiful women who were sitting on rocks.

"He's traversing dangerous waters just to meet women?" Adriana said in an angry tone.

"I don't blame him!" a googly eyed Danny responded, getting a peeved look from Adriana. Danny's attention changed from the singing lovely's to an up-coming set of rapids. "That's bad," he said to himself before catching Don jump off the ship off the corner of his eye. "That's worse!"

Danny dived off the nest, switching to his ghost form in mid-air. He hit the water like an arrow and swam up to catch Don and keep his head above water. He flew back up to the ship with Don in hand only to see Gustavo jump off soon after. "Oh, come on!" Danny complained. He dropped Don where he floated, darted down through the deck, and into the ocean. He grabbed him and flew back to the surface. After throwing Gustavo back on deck and planting his feet on the ground, he felt the effects of the rapids violently rocking the ship.

He looked above to see Adriana feeling the rapids, too. The ship shook hard enough to throw her off the nest and towards the wild waters below. Danny reacted fast and grabbed Adriana's wrist before she disappeared over the side of the ship. After he pulled her on board, he told her, "Get Don and Gustavo inside. I'm gonna consult Jack." Danny ran to the captain witout question, leaving Adriana to drag the dead wieght to the storage room.

Trying to keep his balance, Danny walked up to Jack to talk him out of sailing his current route. He knew Jack couldn't turn back, but he was gonna try to get some sense into him. "Jack," Danny shouted from halfway up the steps to the wheel, "are you crazy? These rapids are dangerous! And this song is getting really repetitive!" Danny then realized something he should've figured out a long time ago. "Their singing's hypnotizing them." He quickly flew up to Jack and tried plugging his ears, when he heard Adriana.

"Danny," Adriana screamed, "look!" Danny looked foward to find the Hairy Turtle heading for a waterfall.

"What's a waterfall doing in the ocean?" Danny asked himself. He didn't know how to counter the waterfall, but he did get an idea on how to survive it. "Adriana, are the guys inside yet?"

"They're close!" Adriana answered.

"Hurry and get them in there and hold on to something!" Danny yeled back. "I got an idea!" Shortly after Adriana got Don and Gustavo in the storage room. Danny flew to the back of the outside of the ship. He grabbed it and told himself, "I hope I can do this."

The Hairy Turtle plummeted over the fall. Danny tried not only to push the ship, but make it intangable. He didn't whether there were poity rocks on the bottom, but with five lives on the line, including his own, he was assuming there was. He put all the energy he could put into getting the ship intangable. At the last possible moment, he suceeded. The ship phased through the jagged rocks Danny suspected were down there while the whole ship went under. He used all the strength he had to push the ship back up to the surface. Exhausted, he floated back onto the deck, and suddenly, everything went black.

> > > > > >

_"Dear diary,_

_A few hours after we finished supplying, we ran into our first obsticle. I told Don everything, and he told me that what we ran into were the Sirens, evil women who sing to sailors and lead them to their doom. Danny and I were the only ones who weren't affected by their song. During the crazed journey, Danny saved us from a waterfall. I don't know why a waterfall was in the ocean like that. Maybe the earth is flat after all. But after Danny saved us, he's been unconscious ever since. I really hope that he's alright._

_-Adriana"_

> > > > > >

Sorry for the long wait. It's funny how I have the entire story in my head, but have so much trouble putting it in text. I'm sure Obi-Quiet has this problem, too. By the way, I don't wanna hear questions like "Why wasn't Danny affected?" or "What are rapids doing in open ocean?" and stuff. Those questions will be answered next chapter.


	10. Niether

Soooo sorry this is soooo late. I just kinda got into amatuer voice acting and am currently in production of a radioplay. I won't name any sites, but here's the long-awaited, yet very short, next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 10: Niether

> > > > > >

His vision was blurred as Danny went back to reality. It was still the Hairy Turtle he last remembered being on. He hoped it only to be a dream at that point, but alas, it's still a long way from his home, time and distance. He got up out of the Hairy Turtle's only bed he was lying in rubbing his eyes.

"Ah, you're awake." Danny looked over to see Don watching him. "We were really starting to worry about you."

"I'm surprised I'm in one piece, too," Danny said. A quick thought of panic came to Danny, which led him to say, "What about-"

"They're all safe," Don told him. "Adriana said you saved us all. It's a pretty amazing feat what you did for us all. I owe you my life, Danny."

"Thanks," Danny said, pretty flattered. "Hey, how long was I out?"

"Oh," Don said, wondering to himself, "about a day."

"A whole day!" Danny repeated loudly in great shock. "Geez. I just never did that to anything that big, with all the people inside and all. I see why I passed out for so long, now."

"You know, Adriana told me exactly what happened that day, like those wild waters and the waterfall and the end of them. Hunting after Jupiter's forbidden treasure will do that to an ocean. And those women singing to us: those were sirens.They hypnotize sailors to their doom with their voice. The only people inaffective to the siren's scream are women. I've always wondered how you managed to remain sane. I think I know why now. Sirens sing men to their doom. Maybe the only reason you weren't affected is because you already met your doom."

"What?" Danny said in pure disbelief, jumping out of the bed. "That's not possible. If I already met my doom, why am I still standing here?" Without warning, Danny switched to his ghost form. His powers sometimes had a mind of their own, and this was a case that proved it.

"That," Don shortly answered.

"I'm not a total ghost," Danny pointed out, "I'm half-ghost. Half-human, half-ghost. Do the math, Don. I'm still alive!"

It took Don a moment think the way Danny did. He rubbed his chin and then bursted, "I think I've got it! By being half-human, you're also half-living. By being half-ghost, you're half-dead. Your dead side kept you immune to the sirens' song. You can think of that as an advantage to being who you are."

"Yeah, but what does that make me, now? Living or dead?"

Don took a few moments to wonder, and then answered, "That's quite difficult to say. You can't be alive if you're dead, but you can't be dead if you're alive. They cancel eachother out. The best answer is you're niether."

"Niether?" Danny repeated. He had never really thought that being half-ghost meant being half-dead as well. "I'm just gonna go up deck and... think." He floated up through the roof, leaving the fat Italian to himself.

> > > > > >

Danny looked at the sea, pretty deep in thought, which is actually different from what Danny's used to doing. "Well, if it isn't the great hero from yesterday!" Jack walked up to Danny from behind. "And here I was thinking you would never wake up." Danny didn't respond. "Are you alright? You're not still tired, are you?"

"You have no idea," Danny said.

"Lad," Jack said, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. What you think I don't know, I do. You've got problems, everyone does. So what's wrong?"

"For one," Danny started, "you're sounding like my sister. And two, I'm really wondering whether I'm really living or not. Don said I'm not really living or dead. Almost like niether."

"I know people who've been there, mate," Jack said. "Miserable people, they were. They were cursed. They showed themselves to be flesh by day, but when the moonlight hit them, they were revealed to be deteriated. Not a pretty sight, mate. They were niether as well. You're different from them, you got good intentions."

"Jack," Danny said, "the best intention I have is getting out of here. So, how close are we to the treasure?"

"I hoped you'd asked that," Jack said. "I can sense some pirate in you! Anyway, from what Don said, the next trial is of those who fell to the other obsticles. Don described that as the dead. They'll come up to the ship, take it hostage, cut us up into ribbons, and make sure the only land this ship sees is the land hidden under the ocean."

"So, bad things in general?" Danny said.

"Basically," Jack answered, "however, Jupiter has a sense humor and decided that these dead blokes only attack at night. He seems to want to give people the upper hand. If you time the journey just right, you can pass this obsticle altogether."

"Man," Danny said, "I hope that's our case."

"By the way, just because you were sleeping, don't think you're going to miss any swordplay lessons." At that, Jack pulled a sword out from under his coat and tossed it to Danny, who fumbled it a little before getting a good grip on the hilt. "This lesson is about using the environment to your advantage.

> > > > > >

Man that's short. This may not be the best chapter, but expect some great action in the next one.


	11. Battle of the Dead

Sorry for the loooooooong wait. I hope this chapter's worth it.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 11: Battle of the Dead

> > > > > >

A deep night came to the sea. Gustavo was the only one awake, directing the ship to its destination while the others were sleeping. Adriana was using the only bed, while everyone else made themselves as comfortable as they can. A candle was his only light to see his compass. He yawned looking at it, making sure he was going the right direction. The hours were starting to get the best of him.

He was startled by footsteps coming up the steps to the wheel. Gustavo kept his sword ready, yet found it only to be Jack. Gustavo knew of what would lie ahead and had to keep himself aware. "You've been up here all night, mate," Jack said to him. "Knowing how long the day was, I'd we're pretty close to sunrise. We might've sailed clear over that underseas graveyard by now."

"I just have to keep sailing a little longer," Gustavo said. "We can't call..." Gustavo yawned before finishing his sentence. "...ourselves safe yet."

"You must be bloody tired, mate," Jack said, concerned. "Why don't you let me handle the ship the rest of the night while you go downstairs to get a well-deserved nap, savvy?"

"Not yet," Gustavo said, keeping his post. His heavy eyelids weren't fooling the captain. "We still have many knots to travel."

"You're a brave one," Jack said, "I'll give you that. Why don't you just keep watch around while I steer?"

"You do that," Gustavo drowzily said. He then finally walked away from the wheel to let Jack handle it and walked to the side of the ship. He sat and leaned back on it, as if making sure Jack doesn't pull anything.

> > > > > >

Below deck, Danny, Adriana, and Don were asleep, with Adrina using the one bed on the ship, Don sleeping in a chair and using another as a footrest, and Danny just leaning against the wall. Danny was suddenly awakened by a cold chill, followed by a stream of blue air emiting from his mouth.

"Oh, no," Danny said, knowing only what it could mean.

> > > > > >

"...And then they made me their chief," Jack said, telling a story to Gustavo, "which was nice." He looked over to Gustavo, and double-taked to find him sleeping soundly. "Dead asleep." Jack then let his attention to a creek in the ship. "That doesn't sound right." Most would find the creek normal when sailing, but a worthy sea dog, like Jack Sparrow, would know that sound as someone climbing on the ship from the outside, which was later followed by the sound of a limp body being dragged over from the inside. Jack stopped recognizing sounds and took action by diving to the side of the ship and grabbing Gustavo's ankle.

Gustavo was still sleeping, not noticing the tug-of-war for his life currently happening. As Jack was struggling to keep Gustavo and himself in the ship, he drew out his sword and thrusted down the skull of whatever started it. The thing's grip loosened when Jack did so, and after pulling Gustavo up, he observed his blade to find there was, indeed, a skull on it. Heavily shocked, Jack frantically shook the skull off his blade, which struck Gustavo in the head. Gustavo got up, shook his head, and in a peeved way, asked, "What did you do that for?"

"Oh, _now_ you wake up," Jack said. Jack looked over to the side of the ship where Gustavo was being dragged out from, seeing skeletal pirates crawling up the ship. A frightened look came to a suddenly awoken Gustavo. Jack sneered and said, "Not these blokes, again!" Gustavo drew his sword out and readied for battle.

Just then, Danny phased through the deck with his blade. "Guys," Danny said, "we're being invaded by... ghosts?" Danny saw that his ghost sense detected something other than ghosts. "Those aren't ghosts."

"They're dead and they're moving," Jack said. "That's good enough for me!" Jack charged and yelled at the three skeletons in front of him, slashing and blocking wherever he could. As one went to thrust into Jack, he nimbly dodged, causing its blade into another's rib cage. Jack kicked that blade upward with the back of his foot, throwing skeletal parts everywhere. Jack then struck his blade into another's skull, while using his lifted foot to kick the other into the ocean. Jack looked over to his other crewmen, who were still in their same spots. "What are you waiting for! Gustavo, port bow! Danny, starbord! Go!"

As Jack was giving orders, more members of the deceased came aboard the ship. Danny and Gustavo made haste to there positions, with Gustavo toppling down the steps in his sleepiness.

> > > > > >

Don and Adriana were unaware of what was happening above deck. Adriana was slowly awakened by pounding on the door. She rose up to see it crash down with armed skeletons on the other side. She screamed in total fear, which startled Don from his make-shift bed. He then realized what had scared the girl and in a scared tone to himself said, "I morti sono arrivato!" Don took one of the chairs he was resting on and threw it toward the skeletons in his way, almost looking like an explosion of bones.

"Adriana," Don said, "we have to get out of here, now!" Adriana got up as told while Don ran over to the chair he threw and tore off one of the legs to use as a club to hit any more skeletons that come. They both ran out the exit, expecting the worse.

> > > > > >

Gustavo, at the front of the ship, had difficulties fending off the onslaught of the dead. He had yet to recieve rest at this point, and found himself narrowly escaping death. While facing four dead members at once, he took an oppertunity to arc up between one's legs. Since he was tired, he became a little disorriented and fell back. His blade was pointing away from, which showed how much luck he had as it pierced into another's skull. Gustavo pulled up, shocked to see that a skull was resting on his sword. This distracted him a short bit as one of the two remaining ghouls thrusted at him, with Gustavo nimbly moving his body away, then handspringing when the other tried slicing off his shins. Upon landing, Gustavo returned the favor, succeeding. The ghoul dropped face-first, catching the point of Gustavo's sword at the end. The remaining ghoul attacked Gustavo while he was still grounded. Gustavo successfully blocked two strikes, with the skeleton's sword hitting what was once the heads of its comrades. The flying pieces caught the skeleton off guard as Gustavo arced up once more, causing its head to fly clear off its neck. After hitting the floor, Gustavo stomped on it, shattering it, and taunted, "Las cabezas, gano."

Danny's practicing was quite noticable as he was holding his own without going intangible, not to mention keeping himself grounded, through most of the fighting. His progress seemed to be slowing down at three certain boney pirates, as he was narrowly dodging and blocking their strikes. Danny dodged another attack by flying back a few yards to try a technique that suddenly popped in his head. He first chraged up his blade with ectoplasmic energy. As the ghostly pirates made their way toward him, he swung his sword horizontally at them, releasing a wave of ectoplasmic energy at them, severing them from the waist down. With surprise that it worked, Danny looked at his sword and said to himself, "Cool."

Jack found no trouble keeping his own. As the zombified pirates came towards him, he quickly did away with them as he grabbed the rope used to hoist things up to the crow's nest. Looking over his side of the ship, Jack found more coming up. Just what he wanted. Rope in hand, Jack leaped over and ran along the ship's outter wall using the rope to keep him up. He sliced at every pirate that came up at him, five in total, after reaching back up to the ship, Jack got some good airtime, enough to shoot a pirate with his pistol directly in the skull. He landed firmly on his feet afterwards.

As Gustavo was trying to keep steady with his deal of the dead, he backed into the door to the lower quarters. It was there he was knocked out when the door flew open and hit him in the back of his head. Don came out swinging with Adriana following shortly. After taking out the literally bone-thin pirates onboard, Don noticed the damage he'd done to Gustavo. He ran over to where he was to check on him. "Gustavo!" he said to his apparently limp body. "Are you alright?"

"El mirar en las estrellas," Gustavo said, clearly dazed. "Debo hacer una manía fuera de ésa." He then went to do what he hadn't done in hours. Sleep.

"What did he say, Adriana?" Don asked the closest Spanish speaker to him.

"No," she simply answered. "We have to get him someplace safer."

"Good advice," Don said after clubbing another undead pirate. Don then took quick notice of Danny on the upper deck and shouted to him, "Danny! Get over here!"

Danny heard the cry from across the ship. He looked over to see a knocked out Gustavo, a club-wielding Don, and Adriana in the face of danger. Danny flew over immediatly to defend the three. Danny and Don stood in opposite ends and circled around the most helpless. "What are you guys doing here?" Danny said.

"Well," Don started while clubbing another skeleton, "Adriana and I were just sleeping, these dead pirates appeared, we escaped, and now we're in even bigger trouble. That's all I know.

"But did you have to bring Adriana here?" Danny asked. It's too dangerous!"

"And leave her to the dead?" Don responded. "What else could I do? ...You like her, don't you?"

Danny quickly went wide-eyed and stammered for answers. "Well, I, er, uh..." Danny felt even more embarassed from that question remembering Adriana was right behind him. A cry for help gave him the thankfulness for not having to answer.

"Danny!" Jack shouted to the upper deck against a handful of undead pirates. "A little help here!"

"Just get Adriana and Gustavo to the crow's nest," Don told Danny, followed by backing towards Adriana and the limp Gustavo. "Adriana, you may find yourself using this up there." He then gave Adriana his chair leg club.

"But what about you?" Adriana asked.

"Don't worry," Don said, taking Gustavo's sword from his hand. "I'm sure Gustavo won't mind me borrowing this. Now get them up there!" At that, Danny grabbed Adriana and Gustavo and flew them up to the crow's nest. Don lookad at the blade and said to himself, "È stato un molto tempo poiché ho usato uno di questi."

Upon drop off, Danny told Adriana, "Stay there!" He flew straight back down to help out Jack, who was struggling to keep himself up from pirates forcing him down. He was unaware that another one was about to slice him clear in half. Danny blasted it before it could do so, then proceeded to cutting down one who was holding Jack down. Jack suddenly erupted back up to hack away at the remaining one.

The hefty Italian showed no rust in battle against the deseased opposition, slicing away at all who approached. Along the way of trading attacks with one skeleton, Don hacked its leg off, causing it to fall over. Taking advantage of this moment, Don disarmed it (literally) and used his big weight by falling back on the dead pirate, shattering it to pieces. He got back up and continued to take on any who opposed him.

Up on the crow's nest, the dead pirates knew life was up there. When they reached the top, they only got a face full of chair leg, curtisy of Adriana. She whacked at any who showed what was left of their faces. One of which whose head popped up next to Gustavo, who was recently regaining consciousness. Adriana only paid attention to one of those things. She whacked at the skeleton's head, which shattered, which left the remaining force to lead directly to Gustavo's temple. Gustavo went out like a light, with Adriana quickly realizing what she had done. "Me disculpo," she said to the once-again unconscious Gustavo.

> > > > > >

The battle lasted into the day, which was around forty-five minutes since it started. Three hours after the sun risen, the crew of the Hairy Turtle were still asleep from exhaustion. All but Gustavo, who was stretching on the deck.

"Están todos dormidos," he said to himself. "Ahora un buen rato de hablar con él." With that, he went below deck.

> > > > > >

Wow, that's a lame last sentence to end it with. Well, that's the end of the chapter. I swear the next one will take a shorter time to finish.


	12. Unique Is Still Good

Another fairly short one, but I kinda like this chapter. It's cute. Before I start, despite of recent complaints, I'm still refusing to translate any of the Spanish or Italian phrases. Think of it like "Ooh, what's he thinking". The only translations you're getting is in Adriana's diary, and nothing more. She'll be the only one that you'll know what she's thinking.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 12: Unique Is Still Good

> > > > > >

_"Dear diary,_

_The ship was attacked by dead pirates last night. We were all able to fight them off and survive. Hopefully, we don't have to run into them again. As for today, everything's alright on the Hairy Turtle. There was only one arguement, which involved Jack and Don. I'm also surprised it wasn't Gustavo, but Don's been fighting with Jack that he's the better navigator. Don does know the vase batter than anyone, so we'll see soon. Danny's been acting very strange lately. He's become less open to all of us since yesterday. He almost seriously injured Jack while he was training. I just hope that it's something any of us can do about it._

_-Adriana_

> > > > > >

Night had come to the open seas once more with a near full moon as its only light. On the deck of the Hairy Turtle, Danny Phantom arose from below with a sword in hand. After planting his feet on the deck, he looked around to see if anyone was occupying the upper deck. No sign of Jack, no sign of an undead. He took this oppurtunity to do a few freestyle moves with his blade.

He started with a few jabs followed by stabbing the air behind him under his arm. He quickly brought it back up for a vertical slash. He rolled back and got back on his feet. He then charged his blade with ectoplasmic energy and slashed horizontally, sending an energy wave into the horizon. He then did a few forward handsprings, using his levitation to keep him balance, with two things left out of mind. One: he was unaware of his surroundings and springing towards the doorway to the inside of the ship. Two: Adriana was coming through it.

"Danny," she said walking out, "are you up..." Before she could finish her sentence, Danny finished his springing and thrusted his blade, which went directly into Adriana's head.

Adriana was the one most shocked, seeing that she was still alive. Danny had noticed her for a split second and made his arm and sword intangible before the sword could really penetrate anything. Adriana very frightenedly moved her head away from the intangible blade. "I'm sorry," Danny said quickly. "I am _so_ sorry. I'm... Ugh, I'm such an idiot. Idiot!" Danny continued cursing at himself over to the side of the ship, where Adriana followed.

"Danny," Adriana said, "what's wrong? You haven't really been yourself lately."

"Oh, it's nothing," Danny said. "I've just been thrown into a different time period, been shot at, been thrown over a waterfall, given mass confusion over my living status, almost got killed by people who were already killed, and, just recently, almost killed you. All in one week! I'm just dandy!"

"That doesn't sound like anything good," Adriana replied.

"IT'S CALLED SARCASM!" Danny snapped back, which caused Adriana to jump back. She seemed almost disheartened. Danny made the quick move to apologize. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just... Ugh, I don't know."

"Can you try to tell me what's wrong?" Adriana asked.

Without looking at her, Danny answered, "I just feel my powers caused everything. Ever since the day I got them, there's been nothing but trouble. It's like I'm the reason that there are ghosts in my town. And now that I'm here, there's even more trouble. If I weren't here, you'd be safer, Don'd be safer, Jack and Gustavo... well, they'd be in jail, but it's safer in there, anyway. Sometimes I just wish I never had these powers."

"Don't feel bad about yourself, Danny," Adriana said, in an effort to comfort him. "If it weren't for your powers, none of us would be here. We never would have met or gotten to where we are right now. And you've always managed to solve those troubles, right? You're the most helpful person on this ship. I think your powers make you unique, and I think unique is... good."

"Do you really think so?" Danny asked in a lightened up mood.

Adriana answered by putting her hand over Danny's and saying, "I know so." She then leaned toward him, to which Danny doing the same. The mood was then broken by Gustavo barging on deck.

"Everyone up here," Gustavo ordered, "go to your cabins! Night has approached and the final..." Gustavo paused suddenly, seeing the scene happened a few yards in next to him. After a long, awkward silence, he said, "Were you going to..."

Danny and Adriana erupted with excuses expanding from "It's not what it looks like," to "She was choking and...," to "Él deseó besarme." Gustavo laughed, knowing mostly what was going on. "You saw nothing," Danny said.

"Alright, alright," Gustavo said. "You two go to sleep. I'm steering the ship." Danny and Adriana went to do so walking through the cabin door. As they went through, Gustavo went, in sing-song, "Danny y Adriana se están sentando en un árbol."

"¡No comience!" Adriana struck back, without looking back.

> > > > > >

If these seem to take alittle long to put up, I have a reason. I'm always looking at what I can do after the next chapter rather than just doing the next chapter itself.. I feel the process should be smoother by now, so for now, leave me your reviews.


	13. Serpant, Dead Ahead!

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 13: Serpant, Dead Ahead!

> > > > > >

As Don was steering the ship closer to the lost treasure of Jupiter, Captain Jack came up looking fairly peeved. "Buona mattina, Jack," Don greeted. "How are the seas?"

"Give me the wheel, Don," Jack said.

Don was verysurprised with Jack's tone. "Jack," he started, "are you still angry over that 'better navigator' arguement? We're both good navigators, so just..."

"It's not about navigation," Jack interupted. "It's you."

"Me!" Don said, almost outraged. "Jack, I don't mean any harm to you."

"I really doubt that," Jack said. "I've lost a great deal of trust in you. I know you're an important member, but I feel you're a... oh, how do you say it? 'Serpente nell'erba' is that password you use, isn't it?"

"Jack, how do you think I'm a snake in the grass?"

"Let me count the ways: you recruited yourself on my ship, threw in a cannon to be friendly, helped us be prepared for one of the obsticles, you know that vase more than anyone else, our bickering over navigation, and recently, I heard you were the cause of Danny's emotional downfall. Not only all that, but you're more about getting to that staff that vase's been saying about than any of us."

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"What I'm saying is you plan toget us to the treasure, get a hold of Jupiter's staff, kill us all with it, loot all the gold, sail back home and become the most powerful man in Italy. That, mate, is called 'greed'."

"Jack," Don said, explaining himself, "we've known eachother for a long time. I'd never betray you. I told you the first day, that we should destroy the staff once we get to it. Then we can take all the treasure."

Jack gave the heavy Italian a long stare before deciding, "Alright, you can stay. But once we get to the treasure, I'm tying you to the mast."

"That sounds fair," Don agreed, offering his hand for Jack to shake, who accepted. Jack then looked around as if something was wrong.

"Did you feel that?" Jack said.

"Feel what?" Don wondered aloud.

"A shift in the waves," Jack answered. "That's not normal." Jack then widened his eyes and asked, "Donny-boy, what was the next challenge?"

"If I remember," Don recalled, "a giant sea serpent. Why?"

"I think we just found it."

> > > > > >

A half hour after Jack's suspicion, the crew of the Hairy Turtle found themselves in an violent storm, with the ship being tossed around like a rag doll. As jack was doing what he could to keep the ship on course, he heard Danny on the crow's nest shouting, "Thar she blows!" Looking to where Danny was, Jack felt a feeling he never had: fear.

A giant, red sea serpant, looking over 40 feet long, with two long whiskers and a razored back, was seen in the distance letting out a mounstrous roar. At the sound of the roar, the entire crew showed up on deck, showing horrified reactions to the beast they saw. Jack ran over to where the rest were as Danny flew down from the crow's nest. There, he gave out he hoped was not his final speech.

"This is it, mates! This overgrown snake is what lies in the way between us and Jupiter's treasure! We can be richer than kings or die trying! Once it's slain, we'll know for certain! Don, Adriana, ready that cannon! Danny, Gustavo, and I will take down the monster! If we can't make it, then I just want to say that you're all my friends, and that we'll meet again somehow! Onward!"

Danny grabbed Jack and Gustavo by their arms and took. Swords in hand, they were prepared. Don and Adriana hustled below deck to arm the cannon.

Some twenty yards away from the Hairy Turtle, Danny, Jack, and Gustavo were over the head of the serpant. Danny dropped them in an effort to attack it when it least expected. As soon as Jack and Gustavo landed, the serpant noticed. It wriggled wildly, but not after Danny threw some ecto blasts at its head. The serpant thrusted itself forward to attack the ghost-boy, biting whenever it got close enough, all of which Danny easily dodged.

On the serpant's back, Gustavo went to stab the wild beast with his sword. Right when he did so, his blade bended. He looked over to Jack and said, "Well, we now know what doesn't work."

"Well I know how to get his attention," Jack said. He thrusted his sword though on of the beast's fins, making it roar in pain. "That should make it realize who it's dealing with." The beast did know, and quickly retreated underwater. As soon as it dove, Danny went with it to help his friends.

Back on the ship, Adriana and Don were readying the cannon. After loading it with powder and putting in a cannonball with required both to lift, they rolled it to the hatch, opened at and had the cannon pointed at... nothing. The two were surprised that the could lose sight of such a behemoth.

Below the surface, the serpant was swimming deeper into the sea with Jack and Gustavo on its back, both doing their best to keep their breath. Danny was coming after it a little faster. He zoomed to its face and grabbed its whiskers, pulling them up like horse reins, which led the serpant back up to the surface. It started wildly thrashing itself at a force where Jack and Gustavo couldn't hold on any longer. Jack and Gustavo were fortunate enough to land on the ship. Jack was thrown rolling onto the deck, with nothing to worry about. Gustavo didn't exactly land _on_ the ship, but he did land on the cannon that Adriana and Don had readied. Just not the way he wanted to land.

"Right in the huevos," Gustavo said, a few octives higher than he normally speaks. Don and Adriana pulled Gustavo back onboard while Jack came rushing down.

"Is the cannon armed?" Jack asked.

"Ready to fire!" Don confirmed.

"I'll fire it," Jack said. "I know how to fire one of these. Give me a light." Don hurried to do so. He gave a candle to Jack, who took it and waited patiently for the serpant. After several of the longest seconds, Jack lit the fuse. After the cannon fired, it landed a direct hit on the serpant. The serpant showed that the crew got the result they wanted.

"Yes!" Jack celebrated. "Get me another ball!" At the end of his sentence, the sorry sound of Don Rotondo sucking in air was heard. Jack turned around to see the fat man nervously playing with his fingers. "What is it, Don?"

"That ball," Don said, at a loss of words, "it was our only one." Jack slapped his head in defeat.

"Are you telling me," Jack said, starting to fume, "that you gave this ship a cannon, but only one ball?"

"I didn't think we'd use it that much," Don said, low on excuses.

"Well, can we fire anything else?" Jack said, improvising his next move.

"How about him?" Adriana joked, referring and pointing to Gustavo, who reacted with an urge to strangle. Maintaining his composure, Gustavo went to the captain.

"Jack, listen to me," Gustavo started. "We can't win this battle. THAT MONSTER IS TOO POWERFUL!" He pactically screamed his last sentence at Jack.

"Calm down, paper-boy," Jack said. "Hopefully, Danny can handle that thing on his own." The instant Jack finished his sentence, Danny came flying through the ship via intangability. It wasn't that way on the other side, as he hit it like a bug on a windshield, then reverting back to his human form.

"Where were you guys?" Danny accused. "I couldn't handle that on my own." Jack was then rewarded by Gustavo with an evil eye.

"Strike," Jack said, "reverse that. I now agree that we're doomed."

"It's coming this way!" Adriana warned, looking through the cannon hatch. Everyone looked in for a peek to see the girl was right.

"That's it," Danny yelled, losing sanity, "we're doomed! We're gonna be mauled!" The monster was then heard roaring, as if prolonging the inevitable. Prolonging a little too long, though. "Um, why aren't we mauled yet?"

"I'm going up deck to find out," Jack said, in which the others followed.

It was more plainer on deck, as the crew saw the giant serpant roaring and thrashing everywhere.

"It's gone bloody mental, it has," Jack said.

"No," Don corrected. "It's in pain." After a few more seconds, the serpant stopped thrashing about and fell, heading straight for the Hairy Turtle.

"Heads up!" Danny panicked. The serpant fell and landed on the ship, completely destroying it. Danny was knocked out by a piece of debris, but not before catching a glimpse of something he thought was flaming and green.

> > > > > >

Wowwy, I liked this one. Leave your reviews and await the next chapter for a few shocks.


	14. He Reveals Himself

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 14: He Reveals Himself

> > > > > >

His vision was blurred. His head felt groggy. He had an immediate head rush. Danny regained consciousness, groaning and shaking his head, feeling tired and... wet. He found himself floating on a piece of debris in the middle of the ocean with his legs in the water. He looked around to see Adriana, Jack, and Gustavo all in the same situation he was in. He swam over to them, the splashing sounds catching the attention Adriana, who swam toward him back. When they came together, Adriana huged him greatly, which she found difficult to do on floating debris.

"We were worried about you," Gustavo shouted to them, on what remained of the mast with Jack. "Her, mostly."

"Hmm," Jack said, with humor in his voice, "I wonder why." Gustavo and Jack laughed at the joke, which Adriana found nowhere near funny.

"Grow up!" she said, swimming back with Danny.

"So, how long was I out?" Danny asked.

"Several hours, maybe," Jack recalled. "If you haven't noticed, the Hairy Turtle has been destroyed. We've been drifting ever since. That beast took a lot with it. The ship, the vase, the food, the water, the rum, most of the weapons, however Gustavo and I are the only ones who have what's left, and... sadly... Donatello Rotondo." Jack took his hat to his chest and bowwed head in respect of the fallen shipmate.

"Oh my gosh... Danny said, shocked. He realized just how dangerous the journey really was. "I'm gonna miss the guy."

"I'm going to miss the rum," Jack said back, placing his hat back on his head.

"Um, Jack" Danny said curiously, "isn't there this whole 'Captain always goes down with his ship' thing."

"So, you know the pirate code, too," Jack said, pretty impressed. "Well, the code's more like guidelines than actual rules."

"What I'm surprised actually went down was that serpant," Adriana added. "How does a monster sent by the gods simply die like that, anyway?"

"I think I know how," Danny said, answering. "Before I got knocked, I saw who killed it. It was a ghost Skulker."

"Who's that?" Gustavo asked, seeming curious.

"He's a hunter from the Ghost Zone," Danny said, "and he's after my head. I fought with him a few times in my time. So far, I'm 2-0." He said the last part rather proudly.

"So, if you can beat _him_," Jack started, "how is it that he can beat a leviathan of a creature and you can't?"

"Ignoring that," Danny said, peeved. "I wanna know why he did that?"

"I guess _he'd_ rather do away with you rather than let some sea monster do it," Gustavo said. "If he's really after you, I'm sure he'd go that far."

"Well, I don't see him biding his time," Danny started wondering. "Unless-"

"I think I see something!" Adriana shouted, catching the attention of everyone around her. A look of joy came to her face when she knew what it was. "Land!" This word took the attention of everyone near where it came from.

Jack looked in her direction and joyously said, "It's not just land, it's an island. If we're lucky, an oasis, which means food and water! Full speed toward that land!" At Jack's command, everyone kicked toward the island.

After ten minutes of kicking, the crew, exhausted, finally made it to the island. All three crawled on to the dry sand, lying down and breathing heavily, yet all laughing in pure happiness. Danny looked to his right and saw a cave he hadn't noticed. Thinking it might be important, he said, "Hey, guys, I never noticed that cave right there before."

"Well," Gustavo said, "we were all busy swimming, so that's not very surprising."

"I know," Danny said, "but I'm thinking that if we explore it..."

"We're all tired, Danny," Jack said, explaining the obvious. "Give us a moment."

"The treasure just might be in there," Danny continued, which got Jack up to his feet.

"Moment's over!" Jack said, his tone instantly changing. While his mind was set on going in that cave, his body wasn't, falling right back down almost as soon as it got up. Jack got a face-full of sand from that. Lifting his head up and spitting out sand, Jack said, "Alright, a few moments longer."

> > > > > >

The moment had come for the crew to explore the near-by cave. Before so, Jack gave another address to his crew.

"Gentlemen, and lady, this is the moment we've been waiting for. We've journeyed for many a day to come to what might be here. Even if we can't find anything, Danny and I have found this island habitable, so no one's dying anytime soon. Treasure awaits! Let's go!" Jack rushed in, with the others to follow. It wasn't long berore they realized how incredibly dark it was. First blinded by excitement, now blinded by a lack of light.

"Why didn't I think about something like this?" Jack questioned himself.

"Because you're mad," Gustavo answered for him. The sound of a smack followed.

"Ow!" Danny said, showing he was the source of the smack. "I think I hit a stalagmite. ...Or stalactite. I can never tell those apart."

"AAAHH!" Gustavo shrieked. "Something's got my hand!" This was followed by Adriana screaming.

"Adriana," Danny said, showing worry, "what is it?"

"I was what got his hand," Adriana said, with terror.

"That's not funny, thief!" Gustavo angrily said. "But Danny sounded pretty worried about you. That was pretty funny."

"Weren't you screaming like a girl a second ago?" Danny slyly retaliated. Giggles from everyone else were heard as Gustavo was looking for an excuse.

"Um... Uh..." Gustavo stammered. "She screamed twice."

"Can't we just use something like the buddy system?" Danny suggested.

"The what?" Jack said.

"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere!" Danny said. Shortly after two bright rings illuminated the cave, a great green light came from Danny's hand, bright enough to see what was infront of him. "Why didn't I think of this earlier?"

"What matters now is that we can see," Jack said. "Now let's keep going."

Some time later, the crew had found what they were looking for. They had found the treasure room, which held mountains of gold, silver, and precious stones, which relected off several spots of sunlights given off from several holes in the ceiling, giving the room a tint of shining yellow. "Es tan hermoso," Adriana commented, marveling at the sheer beauty of the cave.

"So," Jack said, "how are we going to spend it?" It was then when the unexpected happened. A blue vapor emerged from Danny's mouth, which was followed by a lowing green net from under him. Danny's panicky yell turned the backs of his friends. They thought he had just vanished until they heard a dasttardly voice above them.

"Surprise!" it said, revealing itself to come from a large metal man with firey green hair.

"You must be Skulker," Jack said to the ghost hunter. "You've selected the wrong crew to mess with." Jack then turned slightly over his shoulder to whisper to Gustavo, "Gustavo, find the thing."

"You mean the-" Gustavo started.

"Yes, that," Jack quietly answered, which sent Gustavo darting up the mountain of gold. Jack continued his threats to Skulker with, "Now I suggest you bring Danny down right now."

"Hmm," Skulker said, with a mock consideration, "interesting suggestion. Suppose I don't?"

"In just a few moments," Jack began, "you'll find out. My good shipmate Gustavo is about to-" Jack's sentence was interupted by screams of agony as he was hit by a reat electrical shock in the back, falling to the ground, unable to move. Danny and Adriana looked at where it came from and gasped in disbelief.

It was Gustavo. In his clutches lied the staff of the gods, a long, gold shaft with a sun shaped idol at the tip with six different coloed jewels. Along with the staff, he wore an evil grin on his face as he continued Jack's unfinished sentence. "-To become the most powerful being in all exsistance."

> > > > > >

Wowwy-Maui, that's a cliff-hanger. Yes, Gustavo did betray the crew of the Hairy Turtle. Yes, Don is dead. Most likely, you were shocked. I had traces that Gustavo was after power in the chapters, which Gustavo himself will tell next chapter. And if you thought this twist was nuts, wait until you see the next chapter! BTW: I know Skulker made four apearences in the series, but Danny really dealt with him only twice. He was a hired gun in one episode and in jail in another, so there.


	15. It Can't Be

You're kinda right, Anne. As stated earlier, description's not my best subject. Well, in scenery, anyway. Could I have made it more glorious sounding? Yes. One thing I learned writing this fic: Making a setting is hard! BTW, this was supposed to be apart of chapter 14, but because of how long it'd really be, I had to split it. You'll notice this is really long all by itself.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 15: It Can't Be

> > > > > >

Shock filled the room as Jack lied in an unconscious heap on the ground. "You do _not_ know how long I've wanted to do that!" Gustavo said, sounding relieved.

"Look, Gustavo," Danny said, still shocked at what just happened, "I know you and Jack haven't exactly been the best of friends, but don't you think this is pushing it A LITTLE TOO FAR?" Gustavo gave a smug look to the half-ghost hanging above him.

"I wouldn't say 'pushing it'," Skulker interupted. "I'd say it's a performance most award-worthy!"

"I'm touched by your words, Skulker," Gustavo thanked. After that Danny looked back and forth between his capturer and his former friend. He finally put the pieces together and blurted out his thought.

"You mean you two were working together?"

"It's an interesting story, really," Skulker began. "It all started two months ago..."

"Two months?" Danny said, surprised. "But it's only been..." Danny paused, recalling the days he's been in this time period. "Nine days... I think."

"We were dropped off at times," Skulker informed. "Also different places. In fact, it was right here where I was dropped off. After I mantained my composure, my scanners indicated a great power source. It lead me to that staff that Gustavo has right now."

"Wouldn't it have just been easier for you to use the staff than to get Gustavo to it?" Danny said, finding a good point.

"Do you think I would have if I could?" Skulker angrily asked. "It's like I have to explain everything to you! When I tried to get a hold of it, it blasted me back. Further scans indicate that the staff can only be held by the living. Hence why I found Gustavo. However, I had to search and wait for you, ghost-child. Speaking of search, I also found that vase that was ironically a map and storyboook all in one in Italy. Small world, isn't it? When I arrived in Spain, my scanners indicated a rift weakness in an alley, small but detectable. I knew you'd show up there in a matter of days, and I had to find someone who would deliver you to me. Someone who'd do anything for power. Someone so miserable, they'd do anything to change there life."

"Miserable?" Gustavo interupted. "I still had a good life, I just wanted a better one."

"Well, excuse me if you looked all mopey," Skulker argued. He then slyly whispered to Danny, "Just between us, he screams like a girl."

"Why don't I just continue?" Gustavo said. "Skulker toldme that he'd give me ultimate power if I found you, Danny, which included everything Skulker told me was on the vase. In other words, we didn't need Don. The plan was simple: Skulker would put the vase antique shop, which I would get at night once Skulker informed me that you'd arrive. He showed me where you were, I'd show you the vase to catch your interest, and we would have easily gotten there with you flying me there. It would have worked until Jack Sparrow ruined everything. I had to improvise fast and had no choice but to bring him along. It became more interesting, really. I'll have to thank him."

"I had to keep a close, yet frustrating eye on you," Skulker continued, "yet stayed far away enough to avoid you ghost sense. Sure, you may have phased that ship through the bottom of that waterfall all by youself, but I handled many of those zombies before the got to your ship. If I wasn't there, you'd all be dead. And look who destryed a giant sea serpant from the inside? It's very gross in there. I wouldn't recommend it. For those, I think I deserve a thanking from you, Ghost-child."

"I still don't understand, Gustavo," Adriana said, on the verge of tears. "You still stayed loyal to Skulker? Didn't any feelings change on our journey? WEREN'T WE YOUR FRIENDS?"

Gustavo laughed, as if told a good joke, and replied, "A man who almost ruined everything, a boy who I could trade for a much greater prize, and a girl who's been stealing my goods for far too long. Skulker made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Besides, why would I be friends with someone as low as a thief?"

Having taken much offence to Gustavo's words, she walked over to what she thought was Jack's lifeless body (which had slightly gained consciousness) and took his sword from under him. Gustavo laughed at the thought of what she would try to do. "The only people lower than thieves," she angrily said, "are people like you!" She ran at Gustavo, sword in hand, ready to slice him in two. Gustavo just patiently waited for her. She approched with a violent slash, only to swing at air as Gustavo spun out of the way and was directly behind her.

Gustavo grabbed at Adriana's hair before she could even think of a second move. "Cáigalo," Gustavo said, pulling Adriana's hair to near-scalping point. She dropped the sword immediately, which rolled down to Jack, who slyly placed it back under his belt. Gustavo held the staff so it's head was just inches away from her gut. Sparks and electrical streams jumped up from the head as Gustavo said, "How much lightning does it take to kill a thief?"

"Gustavo, wait!" Gustavo looked up, noticing the cry came from Skulker. "Turn the girl to face me, and keep a good grip on her." Gustavo did what he was told, turning Adriana rather forcefully in Skulker's direction, still with a grip on Adriana hair. Skulker gave a hard look at her, grinned evilly, and told Danny, "Look closely at her. Does she remind you of someone? Anyone you know?"

Danny looked at Adriana as Skulker said. Danny look went from observant to horror as he knew why Skulker didn't want her dead... yet, as far as he knew. It was all in the way Gustavo was holding Adriana's hair, like a ponytail worn up if Gustavo's hand was an elastic. A green one, maybe. That's when it hit him. He never noticed because Adriana always had her hair down, but, with the exception of eye and hair color, she looked exactly like his friend, Sam. It rolled on and on in his mind on how it was possible.

> > > > > >

_"Your powers make you unique. Unique is good."_

> > > > > >

_"I think your powers make you unique, and I think unique is... good."_

> > > > > >

"It can't be," Danny said to himself. "It just can't be!" He then proceeded to asking the question that would have him kicking himself for the rest of his life... or afterlife. "Adriana, are you an only child?"

"Uh," Adriana went, almost too frightened to answer, "yes."

"It is," Danny said to himself. He proceeded to trying to struggle out of the net. If he couldn't phase through it, he might as well do something.

"Try to escape," Skulker said to him, "but just think of what we can do to her. Think of how it wil effect the future, or better yet, how it could effect you." Danny gave in and quit. "If you want her to live, just come with me so I can mount your head on my wall. I'll even get her off this island for you."

Without any other choice, Danny sorrowly answered, "Fine."

"Good," Skulker said, firing a net at Adriana. "Easier for transportation." Danny scowled at Skulker for how he just put her in a net like some animal.

"Take him with us," Gustavo said, pointing at Jack. Skulker floated down and started netting Jack up. "The first place I want to test my new... abilities. That one place Jack told me about, what was it called... ah, yes. Port Royal. Where better to kill him than in front of his only friends?" Jack had heard all of this, and balled his fist in rage. As soon as Skulker grabbed Jack's tied net and Gustavo grabbed Adriana's, the two started to rise. Gustavo used the power the staff gave him to open up the cave from the inside. Within an instant, he and Skulker jetted out of the cave in an instant.

> > > > > >

Gustavo and Skulker were flying to their destenation at mind blowing speeds to Port Royal. Curious, Danny asked Gustavo, having to yell over the wind, "Do you even know where you're going?"

"I'm using Uranus's winds to guide me to Port Royal," Gustavo answered. "They're blowing me towards it. It's also what's making Skulker and I fly so fast."

With a good joke in mind, Danny asked, "So what you're saying is that the winds of Uranus are helping you fly at really high speeds?"

"Exactly," Gustavo said. He then got a barrage of laughs not just from Danny, but from Skulker too, who heard it all. Gustavo stopped quickly and said, "What's so funny? What'd I say? Not you too, Skulker!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Skulker appologized, trying to maintain his composure. "Okay, I'm good. Keep going." As flight resumed, Danny continued to mope on how no matter what he did, his life was over.

"Psst, Danny," a voice close to him said. Danny looked over to see it came from Jack. Before he could get a word out, Jack said, "Shh. They still think I'm knocked out. I heard most of what they said, including how much Adriana means to your future. We'll get out of this, so stop doubting yourself."

"But..." Danny started, to be interupted by Jack.

"As long as there's a breath in my salty lungs," Jack started, "I'll help you, Adriana, anyone as long as it removes Gustavo from power. Now first, you have to get us out of these nets."

"I can't," Danny said. "These nets are ghost proof. I can't do anything ghostly to get us out."

Jack looked as if it were all over, before an idea sprung into his bizzare head. "Ghost proof, you say?" He then proceeded to drawing his sword out.

"Yeah," Danny answered.

"You can't go through it?" Jack slowly started to rub his blade through a section of both his and Danny's nets.

"Nope." Danny was too down to notice what Jack was doing.

"You can't destroy it with that ghost zap thing you do?"

"Nope."

"You can do anything ghostly possible to that net and you can't break out of it?"

"Nope."

"That's all I wanted to hear." Jack had cut through a good portion of the net and positioned his hands to push the sword down hard enough to, hopefully, cut through the nets like butter. But he couldn't do that without a taunt. "Skulker!"

"Huh?" Skulker looked down at his victims.

"Remember this as the day you _almost_ caught Captain Jack Sparrow... and Danny Phantom!" With a quick thrust down, Jack cut through the nets, his sword going through multiple squares of them. The nets then lost balance in which Jack and Danny fell out, with Danny screaming all the way down. As they hit the water, they skipped across the water, each skip like hitting concrete, before finally submerging.

Gustavo looked back and notice what happened. "They're going to get away!" he shouted, angrily. "Get them!"

"No!" Skulker ordered. "We let them come to us."

"How do you know they'll follow?" Gustavo asked, his frustration showing.

"The one thing all prey come to," Skulker informed, "is bait." He pointed at Adriana, who was in the net Gustavo was holding. "The ghost-child will do anything to get to her. Now let's continue." At that Gustavo and Skulker continued flying to Port Royal, going out of view in just seconds.

> > > > > >

Back in the middle of the ocean, Jack and Danny arose for air. With the situation that happened seconds earlier, Jack said out of fun, "We have to do that again."

"Are you nuts, Jack?" Danny asked. "Skulker and Gustavo are gonna kill us for that. Or even kill Adriana." That thought absolutely terrified Danny.

"It's obvious they want us to follow them," Jack pointed out. "They'd have been back here by now. Don't worry, Danny. We'll defeat Skulker, remove Gustavo of his power, and save your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Danny defended. "She's heavily connected to my time. And if we don't stop those guys, they could ruin everything by killing her. The entire future's on the line, let's go! Cause it's time for me to go ghost!" A single bright ring emerged up over Danny, the other under water, changing him to his ghost form. He flew up and picked Jack up from the ocean.

"That's the spirit!" Jack said, never really intending a pun. "Now let's get to Port Royal. Now if the wind's still blowing towards there, we should go..." Jack stuck his finger in and out of his mouth and placed it in the air. "...That way." He pointed in the direction where his finger was coldest. "We shouldn't be too far from Port Royal." With that, Danny flew as fast as he could to keep up with his enemies.

"I just hope we can get there before they can do too much damage," Danny hoped.

> > > > > >

Wow, glad that's over. Well, now I'm gonna get to where references were for all that's happened so far.

**Gustavo is Bad  
**Chap. 11: "Ahora un buen rato de hablar con él", roughly translated, means "Now's a good time to talk to him".  
Chap. 13: Gustavo had to shout if Skulker was in earshot of his cry.

**Adriana and Sam Related  
**Chap. 12: That whole "unique is good" stuff mentioned earlier.  
Chap. 7, 13, 14: They share the same sense of sarcasm.

These were just what I found, and I wrote the darn thing. Give me feedback, and I'll keep writing. Watch "Reign Storm"!


	16. Invading Port Royal

Anne, booyah, that's the dumbest idea I ever got. Anyway, the begining of this chapter was really hard to write. It was hard to think of a situation to get certain characters in (yeah, you know which ones I mean). Well, at least the other two thirds are good, but that's just me. Hmm, first chapter without Danny. Kinda weird.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 16: Invading Port Royal

> > > > > >

The afternoon sun shined brightly on Port Royal. It was a small, bustling town on the Caribbean islands, and it was bustling more than ever, now. The governor's daughter was getting married. And to a blacksmith of all people.

Speaking of which, the lucky smith, Will Turner, was busy at the smithing shop forging weapons and what-not for the royal Navy. Will was young, strong, and handsome to boot with his brown eyes, long brown hair, and well dressing with the shirt-closed vest combo, with or without the smithing apron. As Will was putting the finishing touches on a blade, the door creaked open. Will turned around to see a cloaked figure enter through. After it closed the door, the cloacked figure removed its hood in front of Will, revealing to be his lovely bride-to-be, Elizabeth Swann. Her wavy blonde hair, her soft brown eyes, and a face that could launch a thousand and one ships made her possibly the most beautiful woman on the Spanish Main. "Elizabeth," Will started, "I'm glad you could be here."

"It was quite difficult," Elizabeth said back. "So, why did you ask me here?"

Will walked up to Elizabeth with a small case and said, "There's something I want to give you." Elizabeth walked up to Will to retrieve the case he had. She took the case, to which Will said, "Open it up."

Elizabeth opened the case and was utterly amazed at what was inside, too happy for words. The case contained a silver necklace, with a small pendant of a swan with a pearl piece in the middle hanging from it. "Oh, Will," she said, trying it on, "it's beautiful."

"It looks even more beautiful on you," Will romantically commented. As the two began to lean in for a kiss, there was a knock on the door. Elizabeth had a hunch who was at the door and ran off for place to hide. "What is it?"

"Father must know I'm gone by now," Elizabeth explained, "and sent the guards to go look for me. You know how worried he gets. Keep whoever's there distracted." Will did as told, putting on a casual look as he answered the door. Elizabeth was indeed correct, for at the door was James Norrington, Commadore the the British navy. Norrington was an imposing man, being fairly tall, dressed in a red uniform, wearing a powdered wig under his hat, and seldom, if ever, wore a smile.

"Good afternoon, Commadore," Will said to a very serious looking Norrington. "You'll have to come back at another time. I'm very busy at the moment."

As Will tried to close the door, Norrington held it in place and said, "Not so fast, Turner. The governor gave me, along with others from the navy, to look for Miss Swann. Seeing how the two of you are engaged, this would be the first place to look."

"Well, I haven't seen Elizabeth all day," Will lied. "Now if you excuse me, I'm very busy." Will tried to close the door again, only to have it once again stopped by Norrington.

"Well, can't I just have a look in case she sneaked in under your nose?" Norington cleverly asked.

"Umm," Will considered, "no." Once again, Will unsuccessfully closed the door, all thanks to Norrington.

"Mr. Turner," Norrington began, in the most serious tone one can possibly muster up, "if you don't let me search the smithing shop right now, I'll place you under arrest for failure to cooperate, wether you're Miss Swann's fiance or not. I suggest you wisely-" Norrington was cut off by the sound of thunder. Confused, he looked back and asked, "Was that thunder?"

"At this time of year?" Will added. Before another question could be asked, dark clouds rolled over to the port. The sudden change of light brought open windows and doors, as people wanted to see what was going on. Vaguely seen in the distance were two shaded figures, one very bulky figure carrying something in its hand, and a leaner, more human-shaped figure with something strapped to his back.

"Will," Norrington said, unaware that Will just disappeared behind him, "are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"If you see a possible threat," Will said, his apron off and now armed with a sword, and just hearing Norrington's sentence, "then I see it." As the figures drew closer, a flash of lightning revealed their identities. The larger figure, who was indeed not human, was a metallic mammoth of a man and carried a net with a sSpanish girl in it, who was incredibly frightened. The leaner figure was a young, long-haired Spanish man with a golden staff behind him held in place with an over-the-shoulder, metallic strap. The leaner figure then shouted an introduction, several yards away and above from the smithing shop.

"Personas de Puerto Real," the leaner one shouted, "I am Gustavo, and this is Skulker! You are looking at the new leaders of this pathetic town, and soon, of this world! Surrender to me now, or I will turn this town into rubble¡Permita que demuestre!" Thrusting his palm to a random building, Gustavo made the ground beneath it began to violently shake. The structure collapsed almost immediately, bring townsfolk to run an scream in panic. "Do you now see the awesome powers a god can bring to an unsuspecting land? I suggest you surrender now!"

"Never!" Norrington said, hearing enough, with Will right behind him. The two were charging at where the threats from the skies were floating, swords in hand.

Skulker looked down on the two and said, "Rebels on our first day. This should be interesting!" With that, the two flew down at the small, charging force.

Norrington had ran up to Skuker, who stood there without moving even a twitch. Norrington, filled with rage, sliced at Skulker, but to his surprise, it didn't even phase him. The attack didn't injure, hurt, or even remotely budge Skulker. "Careful," Skulker mocked, "you might scratch the suit." After that, Skulker landed a skull-crunching punch to Norrington, sending him six feet back into an unconscious heap.

Will was battling the man with the power, Gustavo. They exchanges shot after shot, both proving to be very well skilled with swordplay. The two locked blades, to which Gustavo summoned a powerful gust of wind, pushing Will back several feet. On one knee, Will ran back at Gustavo, ready to slice his arm off, only to be stopped by bars of earth. Will found out then he was surrounded in a cage of rock. He looked back to see Norrington, gaining consciousness, get in the same situation he was in. Gustavo then walked up to him and said, "Make yourself comfortable. You'll be in there for a long, _long_ time. And tell anyone who wants to do what you just did that this will happen to them."

With two fingers pointed up in a gun-like fasion, Gustavo brought them down quickly, in which a bolt of lightning struck the smithing shop, setting its roof ablaze.

A sudden thought came to Will as he saw the fire. "Elizabeth!" he shouted, ignoring the mean look Norrington gave him as he heard it. Almost as soon as the building caught fire, Elizabeth came running out. Looking around to see all the comotion, she saw Will and Norrington trapped.

"Will!" she shouted, worried over her love. She ran toward him, only to stopped by a large hand that emmited from the ground (or was the ground, in that case).

Gustavo, with his hand and arm in a gripping position, pulled it back, which brought the ground-based hand with a struggling Elizabeth next to Will's rocky prison. Gustavo then looked back and forth between them. "Will?" he started. "Elizabeth? As in Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann? You two are them? This is getting interesting! I've heard so much about you from Jack. You know, Jack Sparrow? He's a good man, I'm going to kill him. I might even kill you just to make killing him easier. But..." Gustavo then turned his attention to Elizabeth. "...it would be a shame to let something so beautiful go to waste."

"You stay away from her!" Will threatened.

"What do you say you leave this smith," Gustavo started asking, "and be the wife of a god for a change, hmm?" Elizabeth clearly answered "no" by slapping Gustavo in the face. His anger building, Gustavo made a serious threat by going, "Do you know how easily I can crush you!" Gustavo brought his hand to a tightening grip, to which the hand holding Elizabeth responded. Elizabeth was showing clear signs that she was being constricted.

"No, don't!" At that Gustavo loosened the grip up a bit, but still kept Elizabeth in hold. The only reason Gustavo stopped was because he knew who that voice belonged to.

"Skulker," Gustavo said, in a calm yet frustrated manner, "I'm only trying to make it easier to kill Jack by making him feel absolutely miserable for allowing a good friend of his die. The more orders you bark at me, the harder it is for me to do so. Can you kindly explain to me WHY YOU MADE ME DO THAT?"

"Simple," Skulker began to explain. "You may have you you want, but I don't. It took me months to find that ghost-boy only to have him slip through my fingers. We still have a deal, Gustavo, and I have a plan that will give us what we both want. So if you want to rule with an iron fist, I suggest you listen to it before you eat mine!" Skulker then shook his free fist at Gustavo. "First, put out that shop."

Gustavo growled angrily as he waved his hand back at the burning smithing shop. The fires disappeared in a single gust. Skulker walked over to Will and said, "Smith, do you know if I can find any cages in there?"

> > > > > >

Ooh, cliffhanger. This should be fun. And I'm telling you, the next set of chapters will be the most intense.


	17. Friends in Need

This is pretty difficult to understand, because some things are happening at the same time others are. I also noticed how it dwindles down in the end, but that's me. By the way, I kinda noticed this document editor won't let me put exclamation points and question marks next to eachother, so remember that _that_ part is not me.

**Note: I slightly edited this chapter after viewing "The Ultimate Enemy". The deviantart one will remain the same, so tough. Keep in mind, this is still set before season 2, when I started writing it. Find my change, I know you will, whether you readthis chapteror not.**

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 17: Friends in Need

> > > > > >

_"Dear Diary,_

_After we had our ship destryed by a giant sea monster, we found the treasure the vase spoke of. We lost alot of things, including Don. In the treasure room, one of Danny's enemies, Skulker, ambushed him. Even worse, Gustavo turned traitor after getting that magical staff. And I learned that I'm somehow apart of Danny's future and was taken hostage, as were the others. Jack and Danny were able to escape, but I'm still prisonor. Gustavo and Skulker took me all the way to the Caribbean Islands, and they took another girl hostage. She must have some relations with Jack. Gustavo's changed completely, and I don't know what he has in store. Right now, he has me and that other girl han"_

"Oh, no," Adriana said to herself. "Estoy fuera de tinta."

> > > > > >

As Danny and Jack were rushing over to Port Royal, they decided to engage in conversation to beat the boredom bug after some twenty minutes on Gustavo and Skulker's trail. "Rum runners used that island as a cache," Jack told. "They came past and I was able to barter passage off."

"So that whole sea turtle thing?" Danny started to ask.

"Of course it was a myth," Jack laughed. "I don't know how others believed that. I mean, do you know anyone who can grow back hair long enough to rope a bunch of sea turtles?"

Danny shuddered and said, "You don't want me to answer that question."

"Apparently, that means yes," Jack said, slightly disgusted. A clap of thunder then came. Confused, Jack said, "Was that thunder? At this time of year?"

"Gustavo!" Danny knew. "We're getting close." Almost after Danny said that, something came into view. It wasn't a town, rather it was elevated than grounded. Before Danny and Jack was a flat chunk of bare land, hovering just over Port Royal's pier.

"Did Gustavo do that?" Jack asked, bewildered.

"If he can open up a cave from its gut on day one," Danny said, "this is probably cake." After those words, the two heard a booming voice.

"Danny, Jack. I'm so glad you can make it. Come closer." Danny and Jack knew that voice belonged to Gustavo.

"But how can he...?" Jack was at a loss of words wondering what he just heard.

"He's probably using the wind to amplify his voice," Danny explained. Jack looked up at him, confused. "I don't get how it works either." The two flew closer to the big chunk of rock that floated in place.

As they came to a pretty close distance, Gustavo said, "Stop!" Danny did so and floated in place, carrying Jack by the arms. The two were able to see Gustavo, now equipt with a metalic strap (courtesy of Skulker) to hold the staff, on the rock, and what was just hanging in front of it. Being held by two earth-made hooks were two cages with people in them. Danny only knew one, but Jack was well aquanted with both faces.

"I'm glad you made it here," Gustavo began. "I was getting bored waiting, so I made this floating pad so all of Port Royal will know I'm watching them. Do you know what's in front of you? Your dearest friends. Danny, I'm sure you're familiar with Adriana, and Skulker told me that she's more than familiar with you. The ancestor of a friend of yours, I hear. And Jack, I know you're quite aquanted with the lovely Elizabeth Swann. You've told me all about her when we were adventuring for my prize. And now, their lives are in your hands. I'm willing to let bygones be bygones only if... you let one of them drop to the ocean." At that dreaded "D" word, Jack and Danny gasped in horror. "I'll let the other live, you have my word, but only if one dies first. Choose Adriana, and Danny's life could change forever. Choose Elizabeth, and just think how heart-broken Will will be. Or, you can both surrender to Skulker and I and, under my mother's name, I'll release them both. But if you fail to cooperate with any option, they both drown! It's up to you." Gustavo awaited their decision, wearing an evil smirk.

Danny thought long and hard, sweating bullets over what could happen should he make the wrong choice. Without a final option, Danny gave up. "Alright, Gustavo," Danny said, "you win. We give up."

Jack was shocked by Danny's answer. "Danny, you can't do this!" Jack warned. "You do know you're giving up, right?"

"Do we have any other choice?" Danny said, slightly angered by the fact that Jack was right. Danny slowly flew towards Gustavo's floating patch of land, his head hung low in sorrow.

As Danny was coming to Gustavo, Jack was speculating a way to get out of their losing situation. One thing he noticed was that the cages were hanging not too far from the pier. Only a half-second outside his second thought, he shouted, "Drop Elizabeth!"

"What?" Danny said, shocked.

"What?" Elizabeth said, worried.

"What?" Adriana said, disbelieved.

Slightly hesitant, Gustavo said, "...Okay." With that Gustavo stomped his foot and Elizabeth cage dropped once the rock-hook snapped. She screamed the moment gravity took hold.

"Jack, what are you-" Danny started to ask.

"Throw me at her cage," Jack quickly interupted.

"But why did-" Danny went.

"NOW!" Jack ordered. Without hesitation Danny twirled twice and chucked Jack at Elizabeth's falling cage. Darting for the cage, Jack pulled slightly to the left, not where he intended to go. Improvising, Jack grabbed one of the cages bars with his right hand, almost throwing his arm out of its socket, with his lunged body able to change the momentum of the cages drop. The momentum was enough to get Jack mostly where he wanted, because his gut got sandwiched smashing it into the thin side of the pier with Elizabeth in her portable prison slamming into his back, with her thrusted weight making the impact on Jack worse than if it was just an empty cage. Jack began to slide down, but not before grabbing the edge with his free hand. With Elizabeth now skinning on certain death, Jack mustered all the strength he had by swinging one leg on the pier, pulling his other up, then pulling Elizabeth back on dry land. Or dry, suspended wood.

"Jack!" Elizabth excitedly yelled to her savior, feeling lucky to be alive.

"We've _really_ got to stop meeting like this, luv," Jack calmly said, with rough pants to follow. "Where's Will?"

"That awful man has him and Norrington trapped," Elizabeth explained. "They're in prisons made from the ground close to the smithing shop. We've got to help them!"

"Alright!" Jack said, suddenly ready for action. He picked up Elizabeth's cage and carried her on his back. "Try not to move. You'll send me off-balance, savvy?" With that he hustled to the smith's.

> > > > > >

Gustavo couldn't feel any worst, mostly for the fact that he didn't get Jack and the plan failed. Now Danny was floating in front of him, using only words as his weapon. "Gustavo, what's wrong with you!" Danny started. "Don't you think that staff's messing with you're head a little!"

"You don't know how long I wanted this," Gustavo said, showing dementia in his voice. "Not the staff, but the power. The ability to rule all with no one able to stop me. I sell paper for a living Danny! Do you think I was happy with that! I had dreams of this since I met Skulker!"

"Dreams!" Danny said. "This is more of a nightmare, what you're doing! Look, just let Adriana go, drop the staff, and we'll try and find some help."

"How about this?" Gustavo evilly suggested. "I keep the staff, drop this girl from a place where there's less peir to save her, and ruin your life?"

Danny was showing signs of anger at the man who he once called his friend. "You said-"

"I said I'd let one live! If you haven't noticed, Jack saved Elizabeth, and I have to keep my word. So if you excuse me, I've got a thief to drop."

"You sadistic little-!" Before Danny could let out another word, his rage drove him to a flying punch at Gustavo, which was interupted by a beaming shot from Skulker, who phased from onder Gustavo's hovering structure. Danny was blown back a long way and sent splashing into the ocean.

Skulker looked over to his ally and said, "Keep her alive."

"WHAT?" Gustavo was clearly unhappy with what Skulker wanted.

"If you kill her now," Skulker explained, "everything I worked so hard for will be ruined! I told you that she's a key link to that ghost-child, and whatever happens to her will corrupt everything! Move your rock over someplace just to keep him off-balance for me, but do not kill her." Skulker then rocketed off to where ever Danny landed to finish the job, not caring for how much Gustavo was fuming.

Skulker tracked where Danny hit the ocean. He found Danny, his fist anyway. Skulker backed up to recooperate. "Skulker," Danny tried convincing, "don't you see how crazy Gustavo's become? Why don't we just form a truce, beat Gustavo, then figure out how to get back to our time?"

"Interesting offer," Skulker said, followed switching his glowing green blade on his wrist. "I'll consider it once I've made you my carpet!" Skulker pointed his blade at Danny with a fierce look on his face.

"Fine then," Danny said, toughening up. "Hardball it is!" Danny threw a ball of ectoplasmic energy at Skulker, who easily dodged it and jetted towords Danny. With little second thought Danny tuned his head away with his arm in front of it. Skulker came slicing down at Danny, but his blade was oddly stopped. Danny also felt resistance in what Skulker tried to do. He looked up to see an ecto-sword of his own blocking Skulker's attack. Understanding his new weapon, Danny pushed Skulker back, which sent him several feet backwards. Danny grinned and said, "Things just got interesting."

> > > > > >

Jack was busy trying to rescue Will and Norrington. Using a shovel he picked up, he striked away wildly with its edge at the structure that held Will. With one more mighty strike, the bar Jack was hitting broke. It was enough for Will to slide out. When Will was completely out, Jack said "Free Elizabeth, I'll handle Norrington." Will took Elizabeth's cage to set her free. He helped build the cage, so he knew how to disassemble it.

As Jack was striking away at Norrington's earth-made cage, Norrington gave a greeting only a good rival could make. "Jack Sparrow," he began, "seeing how you're here, it can only mean you're the cause of all this. You know, there's othing more I'd like to see than you hanging from the gallows."

"First of all, you're welcome," Jack said, reminding Norrington that he was saving him. "Second, yes, I did get Gustavo to his staff. And third, maybe some other time. Once you're out of here, I'm going to do away with that traitorous snake."

"That doesn't look easy," Norrington said, looking over Jack. "If he's on that rock over there heading to Fort Charles, you're in for a very difficult fight."

Stopping in the middle of a pick, Jack looked behind him to see Gustavo was heading toward Fort Charles. He also noticed Danny facing Skulker, with a grim conclusion. "He still has Adriana." Jack throw the shovel down at the space between him and Norrington's prison. He ran off saying, "Free yourself, Commadore! This is important!" Norrington picked the shovel up and inside between the bars.

Will came out of the smith's soon after, with a now free Elizabeth. Will looked around and asked the only other person there, "Where'd Jack go?"

"He's going to Fort Charles," Norrington answered. "He said something about someone named 'Adriana'."

"That must be that other girl I was held hostage with," Elizabeth said.

"I'm following him," Will said.

"I'm coming with you," Elizabeth said.

"No, Elizabeth," Will said instantly. "I don't want to risk losing you again."

"I don't want to lose you either," Elizabeth said to her love.

"...Alright," Will finally considered. "Let's go." Will and Elizabeth ran to Fort Charles to help Jack any way they can, leaving Norrington, once again, on his own.

"You'd think this rank would come with respect," Norrington sighed to himself, picking at his cage.

> > > > > >

Skulker and Danny continuously knocked blades against eachother in mid-air. Danny was having a difficult time keeping up with Skulker and following Gustavo's chunk of mass, yet still provailed. The rivals crossed blades at eachother, interlocking their glowing, green eyes. Danny was able to kick Skulker in the gut, sending him a few feet back. Danny then threw his blade back, then made a slashing motion towards Skulker, sending out a green wave at him. Skulker tried moving away, but didn't react fast enough and got hit on the left side, pushing him back a little further. Skulker then took note of the damage. His side was cut open, with a wire or two spilt out.

"Looks like there's a kink in your armor, Skulker!" Danny taunted.

"Is that really the best pun you can come up with?" Skulker said, not finding the taunt very amusing.

Danny opened his mouth to answer, then stopped to think. "Yeah," Danny answered, "it is, actually." Danny then became serious again to continue doing battle with Skulker.

> > > > > >

**(I decided here to have Adriana and Gustavo converse in English in this part, because getting it to sound right in Spanish would be time-consuming. They are speaking Spanish to eachother, keep that in mind. Think of it as that whole "Let's only speak English when no one else is around" thing they do in the "Rush Hour" movies.)**

Gustavo, now with his rock relativly close to Fort Charles, watched anxiously at Danny and Skulker's fight. "Why don't you just kill me now?" he heard. He looked down to see it coming from Adriana, hanging miserably in her cage. "Why don't you? Practicly no one can stop you, or even want to try. You've won, Gustavo, why don't you just kill me now?" A slab of rock came out next to Adriana, slightly scaring her and making a platform for Gustavo to sit on to have some real conversation.

"Why, you ask?" Gustavo began. "Skulker told me how important you are to Danny. If you die now, I don't know what will happen, Skulker doesn't know what will happen, Danny doesn't know what will happen, and you won't know what will happen, because you'll be DEAD! But something will happen, and you'll just be hanging here for a very long time. And until Skulker finishes Danny, I can't do anything to you, anyway."

Suddenly, an idea sparked into Adriana's mind. "Why are you listening to Skulker, anyway?" she said, which instantly caught Gustavo's attention. "He's bossing you around while you've got the one item that makes you the most powerful person in the world. You deserve better than that. Stand up for yourself!"

"For once, thief," Gustavo said, "you're right. I'll take matters into my own hands." Adriana smiled greatly at what she just heard. "I'll do away with Danny myself. But don't worry. You'll be next." Adriana's smile quickly faded as she just heard how her plan backfired.

> > > > > >

Danny and Skulker attacked and blocked seemingly endlessly, as Danny kept himself and Skulker in front of Gustavo's eye in the sky to keep a better eye on him. Skulker decided now would be the time to play dirty. He retreated a few yards, which encouraged Danny to follow. Skulker turned around, now with a rocket launcher coming from his right shoulder, which he quickly fired. A missle was headed towards Danny, and, almost out of sheer instinct, he somersaulted rapidly towards it, like a spinning wheel of death. The missle hit the ecto-blade, slicing it in two and exploding behind him, but Danny wasn't finished. He continued spinning towards Skulker. Skulker tried blocking the attack, but a huge miscalculation lost him his right arm from the elbow joint down. Skulker screamed in anger over what what was supposed to be his lesser just did to him.

> > > > > >

Jack had finally made it to Fort Charles. He looked across to see Gustavo's eye in the sky. He remembered the place Gustavo was hovering, as it was the last place he saw Will and Elizabeth before today. It was directly across from him, but he noticed it was too far to jump it. Jack would be lucky if he could grab on to the edge by his fingers, but had to risk it. He promised Danny he'd help him help her. He took several steps back to get a good running start. He was ready to take off when a voice stopped him. "Jack!" Jack turned around to see Will and Elizabeth had followed him.

"Listen, you two," Jack said to them. "This is between me and him, and I don't want either of you involved in it. I made a promise to someone to help someone else, and the person who's making that rock float is keeping me from keeping that."

"So do you really think you can make that jump?" Will asked.

"No," Jack answered. "But seeing how I'm a man of my word, what other choice do I have?"

"Well, is there any way we can help?" Elizabeth asked. Jack looked at them, then at the rock, then back at Will and Elizabeth, to which an idea came to mind.

> > > > > >

"Face it, Skulker," Danny said to his hunter nemisis, "it's over! You're disarmed, ...disarmed, you've got no place else to go, so why don't we just call a truce against Gustavo and call it a day!"

"I'm not done yet," Skulker said. "One thing I've learned about hunting is to always have a plan B." Skulker lifted the only arm he had left, to which a small hatch open and something that appeared as a tazer with green prongs, which Danny knew all to well. "Even if you have to take it from someone else."

"The plasmium maximus!" Danny said, shocked. It was a device he experienced from his deepest rival, Vlad Plasmius. If it made contact with him, his ghost powers would be short-curcuited for a few hours. "How did you get that!"

"Please, I worked for the guy," Skulker mentioned, sparking a memory back to Danny. "You think I don't know where he lives so I can grab some interesting things? It's pretty amazing technology really. I may want toremember it, later." Too occupied with his new toy, Skulker was unaware Danny was flying away. He took quick note and followed.

> > > > > >

Gustavo was through listening to Adriana and stood on the platform from which he sat, then unhatched his staff and aimed it like a rifle. "Let's show Danny what Vulcan couldn't tell Jupiter about," he said, evilly as the head of the staff began to glow green.

> > > > > >

Danny continued to allow Skulker to chase him, throwing back ecto-waves and energy balls hoping to knock Skulker's stolen piece off. It was then he noticed Gustavo seemingly vulnerable, not even moving, as he stood on a platform. Danny figured it to be a good time to strip him of the staff and flew towards him, with his ecto-sword held back to knock it off. Danny, however, had no clue what was in store for him. Heck, Gustavo had no clue what was in store for Danny.

The staff was really charged up as Adriana could see, and she knew she had to take action soon. Danny was getting closer to Gustavo, so the best thing Adriana could do was grab Gustavo's leg and pull it off the platform. This made Gustavo lose his balance, almost his staff, and his aim. Whatever that energy was, it missed Danny by a hair as he halted just inches in front of Gustavo's platform. Danny looked back to see the energy go by and later stop to make a swirling spot in the sky.

"What the heck is-" Danny's question was cut short by a stinging pain. He had completely forgot Skulker was after him, and got the full effects of the plasmium maximus. He lost is ecto-sword in the shock, along with his ghost powers and, most importantly, his ability to defy gravity. Danny dropped, but not before grabbing onto the platform Gustavo had out.

Skulker should have been pleased with what he just did, but instead, he took his anger out on Gustavo. "I thought I told you to keep him distracted!" Skulker yelled.

"I got him distracted like you said!" Gustavo fumed. "Why are you taking your frustrations out on me, now!"

"I didn't want you to take any actions while I was!"

"Look at you! You almost have nothing left!"

"I knew I should've just taken the ghost-boy all by myself, but _noooo_, I had to use an idiot human to get him to me! I suppose you have some bright ideas, paper boy!"

"Just one!" With an electrically charged fist, Gustavo punched Skulker in the face with all his might. Skulker flew back greatly into the hole left in the sky by Gustavo, leaving only screams behind. The hole closed shartly after Skulker went into it. "I really enjoyed doing that." He looked down at Danny, now powerless and hanging on for dear life, and said "I'm going to enjoy this even more." He stomped on the fingers on Danny's left hand. Danny let go from the pain, with only one hand gripping the rock. Fortunatly, Adriana was able to grab Danny's loose hand, and strained to keep him from falling. She pulled Danny's arm up to a cage bar so Danny could get his other hand out of its current situation and clasped around some of the bars.

"What did you do to Skulker?" Adriana asked Gustavo, wanting an answer so it doesn't happen to her.

"Adriana," Danny mentioned, "this guy's controlling our fate by keeping us over the ocean from a really high distance. Now's not a good time to be asking que-" Danny stopped and reviewed what he just said and what just happened. "Wait a minute, that's it! That fifth power Vulcan didn't tell Zeus about is time!"

"Are you sure?" Adriana said.

"Don said," Danny started to explain, "that the fifth power can take out all the elements. Everything eventually dies down from time. I can finally get home!"

"That's nice to know, Danny," Gustavo added in, reattatching his staff to his strap. "It's too bad you'll be long dead before you can do anything about it!"

> > > > > >

"You ready!" Jack said from a distance.

"We're ready!" Will answered. At the edge of the fort, Will and Elizabeth were holding eachother's hands, ready to give Jack an extra spring in his step when he would jump over the edge.

Jack studied his target and concentrated hard. He darted off, running as fast as he could to the edge where Will and Elizabeth were. He put his foot to where their hands were, and Will and Elizabeth, with all they had, launched Jack up like a catapault. His limbs waving in the air, Jack's momentum was able to get himself clear across the gap between him and Gustavo. Jack rolled as he landed to soften the impact.

Jack looked around. Seeing the plain was empty, he shouted the name of his former shipmate. "GUSTAVO!"

> > > > > >

Wow, this is a LOT! Sorry if some stuff seem a little thrown in, like Skulker's new gizmo at a five-finger discount, but I'm trying to make the ending as B.A. as I can. Give me your feedback now.


	18. Plan of Action

Yes, Anne, it does seem a bit rushed, don't it? But then again, this thing's gonna end soon. BTW, if no one caught that Ultimate Enemy reference, you know how SkulTech had that ray that short curcuited young Danny's powers; the palm pummeler, I believe? _That's_ why Skulker thought he ought to remember that technology later. By the way, lots of stuff is happening at the same time here, too. Now, back on topic...

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 18: Plan of Action

> > > > > >

"GUSTAVO!"

He heard his name called, and he knew who called so. Gustavo turned to his dangling "guests" and said to them, "Uno momento, por favor." He then floated up to the top of his levitating rock to confront his old "pal", Jack Sparrow. As soon as they looked glares, lightning struck, and it began to rain.

"I take it this change of weather is your doing?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Gustavo answered, "it's amazing how much control I really have over the elements. What do you want, Sparrow?"

"Gustavo," Jack began, "right now, all I'm asking as that you let Adriana go right now. And I saw Danny get over there, and whatever you did to him, I want him released, too."

Gustavo laughed at what he thought was a pitiful request. "What makes you think I'll do that? Everything's going just the way I want it. Nothing's going to change my mind anytime soon."

"I know this will!" Jack drew out his blade, as if requesting action. Before Gustavo could do the same, Jack threw it to the ground. Gustavo was stunned.

"You're willing to surrender your life just to save their's?"

"It's better the youth live on, I suppose."

"As you say. I'll let them go." With that, Gustavo stomped the ground beneath him, and Jack heard a cracking sound and two teenage screams to follow. He only assumed the worst.

"Oh, did you mean to let them go on the land?" Gustavo said, absolutely aware that he let Danny and Adriana drop into the ocean. "I'm sorry, Jack. You have to give me more detail."

Full of rage, Jack grabbed his sword and charged at Gustavo, yelling all the way. Gustavo just sttod there. As soon as Jack came within good hacking range, a rock wall popped up in front of him. Jack's actions stopped, and great surprise and pain followed when a large chunk of the wall fired right at Jack's chest. Gustavo popped his head out of the hole with an evil grin and said, "Do you really think you can kill me, Jack? I'm a God with this!"

"Then why are you fighting back?" Jack asked, getting up and holding his chest.

"I'm just trying to make this interesting for us both," Gustavo said, lowering his wall, then drawing his sword. "We both know you can't kill me as long as the staff is powering me."

"But I know I can still try!" Jack said, throwing a slash.

> > > > > >

Danny and Adriana were falling, screaming all the way down. They hit the ocean and quickly sunk a few feet. Danny tried getting to the surface himself, but not before quickly remembering Adriana was trapped in a metal cage. Knowing that metal sinks, Danny swam back down as fast as he could to retrieve her, where if her life ended, his could change entirely. He got his hands on the cage and tried swimming back to the surface with it, but to little avail. Adriana and the cage were too heavy for him to swim up on his own. If anything, the two were barely moving at all.

> > > > > >

"Jack was trying to save that girl," Elizabeth said, watching helplessly as the cage hit the ocean. "Will, we must do something."

In little response, Will stared at the ocean for a moment, looking at what remained of the ripples the cage's impact left. Will then ran up to the edge of the fort. Before he got his foot on the wall, he told his fiancee, "Meet me at the port."

Stunned at what she thought he would do, Elizabeth said, "You're not going to-"

"I am," Will interupted, diving into the ocean below afterwards.

Like a human dart, Will hit the ocean with the speed to send him down further than Danny and Adriana were at. It was good for Will, though, as he simply swam up and grabbed the cage as he did so. He and Danny got to the surface just inches away from Danny and Adriana passing out and really drowning, yet they had much difficulty keeping enough cage above water for Adriana to breathe.

"Keep her head above water!" Will said to Danny, keeping him informed on how to help his friend survive.

> > > > > >

Jack and Gustavo's battle grew very intense, and very quickly. Everything Jack threw, Gustavo blocked, and vice versa. Jack went for a slash, which Gustavo dodged a la limbo. Recovering, Gustavo tried throwing a swipe at Jack's feet, to which Jack jumped over in the nick time. Jack's next offensive strike led straight into Gustavo's sword, which he was using to block. Their blades were now crossed.

"What do you say we make things a little more interesting?" Gustavo said. Jack didn't know what Gustavo was getting at until he felt a quaking underneath him. He lost his balance and stumbled over, but got his composure back just before Gustavo could cut his head open, blocking his attack. Looking beyond Gustavo, Jack noticed Fort Charles moving away from him. He concluded Gustavo was moving his piece of territory.

"Impressive trick, Gustavo," Jack said, grabbing a handful of dirt from behind him, "but you forgot one thing." He threw the dirt into Gustavo's eyes, blinding him. Gustavo started screaming in pain, turned back, and retaliated as Jack said, "I'm a pirate!"

Gustavo's screaming quickly turned into heavy, frustrated breaths as he said, "You forgot one thing, too." He turned around at Jack, his eyes now bloodshot and pebbles and dust floating in front of his face. "I control the earth. Whether it be the the tiny rocks that get in your eyes..." As Gustavo was saying this, the dust and pebbles started forming into a rock about the size of a twenty-first century golfball. "...to the slightly bigger ones." Gustavo then sent the rock at Jack at a great speed.

The rock nailed Jack in his left eye, to which he responded by quickly covering it and yelling. He took his hand off his eye, now blackened and almost swollen shut, to see Gustavo charging at him. Jack reacted just in time to block it his attack.

> > > > > >

After an intense struggle and several close calls, Will and Danny finally got themselves and Adriana at the pier and were helped up by Elizabeth and a recently freed Norrington. Will and Danny were exhausted trying to keep Adriana, let alone themselves, alive, yet Danny was the only one who knew it was worth it. His future was safe. ...At least for now.

"You're a brave young man, Turner," Norrington complimented, "but a very foolish one, too."

"I've been told I have a reputation for doing stupid things," Will said, having to take breaths every now and again.

"I'm very proud of you, Will," Elizabeth said sootingly, stroking her fingers through Will's soaked hair.

"Okay, before I totally barf," Danny said, ruining the moment, "isn't that Gustavo's big rock thing coming to the town?"

Everyone looked to see Danny was right. Gustavo was heading toward the town slowly, and rotating at a simular speed.

"What's that mad man doing?" Norrington said, still unable to believe what was going on.

"He's fighting Jack," Adriana mentioned. "Gustavo's all-powerful as long as he has the staff of the gods. He controls all the elements."

"So," Will said, "what do we do now?"

"Danny's the only one who can stop him," Adriana said, which made Danny jump in awe.

"Are you nuts!" Danny asked, as if Adriana wasn't aware of what happened to him. "Gustavo's the most powerful guy out there and I lost my ghost powers. If you ask me, the odds are in his favor if I go up there. It's sui-"

Danny was cut off when Adriana held his hand. He suddenly became more calm and slightly embarassed with his facing turning scarlet as evidence.

"I know you can do it," was all Danny needed from Adriana to get his confidence back up.

"So," Danny said, "how do we stop this guy? I'm up for ideas."

"Looking at his path," Norrington said, using his navigation savvy, "he could be reaching over the baker's at any moment."

"What are you suggesting?" Danny asked the commadore.

"If you plan on fighting him yourself," Norrington suggested, "I can help you onto the bakery's roof. If that rock maintains its hieght over the village, you might be able to jump and pull yourself onto it."

"For everyone's sake," Danny said, "I hope you're right." Danny looked to Will and Elizabeth, still unfamiliar with their names, and said "You guys get Adriana out of her cage, then when you do, stay where you are. I don't want to risk any of you. Red coat, come on!"

Before Danny and Norrington went off, Will stopped them by shouting, "Wait!" Danny stopped and turned around.

"You'll need this," Will said, throwing his blade to Danny, who caught it by its hilt. "Do you know how to use one of those?"

"Please," Danny said, confidently, "Jack helped me through most of my training. What's the worst that could happen?"

> > > > > >

Jack was favoring quite poorly against Gustavo. He found himself on his back for the third time in their battle. Being a pirate, Jack was used to using unfair tricks to take advantage of his opponent. Since he was on a flat piece of land, his options were very limited. The fact that Gustavo was in total control of it, from making it float to making it move, wasn't helping much, either.

Slightly disoriented, Jack narrowly blocked another attack by Gustavo, who now had a rather demented look in his eyes. The two had their blades crosed. Jack got up and maintained he defensive cross, not even blinking as he stared Gustavo down.

"You seem to know me very well, Jack," Gustavo said, stroking his ego by taunting him, "but do you also know what I can control?"

Jack thought he knew the answer up until little trails of stream rose from Gustavo's sword. It seemed the raindrops very quickly evaporated once they hit Gustavo blade. Jack then remembered the staff gave Gustavo the power over fire, and must've been using it to heat up his sword.

"Can you take the heat?" Gustavo asked, pushing Jack back and taking the offensive.

> > > > > >

Danny, with his borrowed sword held by a belt loop on his pants, and Norrington made it to the bakery without a moment to spare. There were crates, probably full of sacks of flour, alongside the structure to give the two more height. After placing them next to eachother and getting on top of them, Norrington helped Danny onto the rooftop the building, which turned out more difficult than it sounded with a wet, steppled roof. After Danny pulled himself on, he had to keep his balance on the roof's point, which was almost more difficult than getting on it in the first place.

There, Danny saw the Gustavo's giant rock platform coming toward him, slightly to his left. Jack was still putting up a fight with Gustavo as both were on the edge of the flat structure. Gustavo's sword was steaming incredibly, almost like the water evaporated without even touching his sword first, and shone to a very bright orange, to which sparks flew everytime his or Jack's swords hit eachother.

It was now or never for Danny. He had to make his jump over to the rock. When it came within range, Danny took his leap of faith. His body hit the platform, and Danny was keeping himself on only by his arms, kicking in the air to pull the rest of himself up.

He could make out the action, though. Gustavo, whom Danny was directly behind, was throwing furious strikes at Jack with his smoking blade, now burning yellow. Sparks flew everywhere as his final attack cut Jack's sword cleanly in two. The broken piece flew in the air and slid in front of Danny, who could see the cut part was red hot. Jack was too distracted at what Gustavo did to his sword and was stabbed in the shin. Jack screamed in unbearable pain and fell to the ground, his pants slightly ablaze. He was in too much hurt to notice his pistol was forced out of his belt on impact.

Danny saw Jack writhe in pain as Gustavo, his sword cooling down, laughed, brought his hand up, and said, "Allow me to help you cool that down for you."

At those words, a stream of water, most likely from the ocean, rose up to the rock behind Jack and surrounded him, encasing him in a floating orb of sea water. Jack struggled as much as he could to get out, to which Gustavo just moved his hand to keep Jack in. Danny could tell by how Jack was struggling, he didn't get a very good breath.

Picking a good time to gloat, Gustavo watched Jack suffer and say, "Isn't it ironic for a pirate to drown without even being in the ocean?" It wasn't long after when Jack stopped struggling and just floated there.

Fearing the worst, Danny used all the upper body strength he had to push himself up, then threw his leg up and rolled himself on the rock. Now on, he grabbed Jack's cut blade and threw it at Gustavo. Since he was in despiration, he didn't have time to aim. The blade didn't hit Gustavo where Danny wanted, but it did hit him nonetheless on the back of his outstretched wrist. Gustavo held it under his other arm after letting letting out a painful gasp, which broke the concentration he had on Jack. The water splashed down followed by a very satisfying thud by Jack's lifeless body on the elevated land.

Gustavo, breathing loudly and furiosly through his teeth, turned around to see what had stopped him. Anger filled his eyes to see just what it was.

Danny Fenton.

> > > > > >

Get ready. The final battle comes after this! R&R! Well, you already "R"ed, so, just "R" right now.


	19. La Caída de un Dios

I really wish I could put more detail into this, but since they're going at it on plain, flat land, it's really hard to do so as opposed to an antique store or a pirate ship. Not only that, but Jack is so much easier to describe when battling, since he has more character than Danny.And I don't wanna get any "I could've written it better" reviews. I'm doing my best, people.

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 19: La Caída de un Dios

> > > > > >

Danny stood across from Gustavo, gazing a hole into him. Gustavo's eyes showed frustration over his halt of killing Jack.

"I'll tell you what," Gustavo said, "I'll send you back to your time if you surrender."

"Why should I trust you?" Danny said. "You betray anyone within three feet of you!"

Gustavo gave a chuckle and said, "It's a hobby."

"Enough of this funny stuff," Danny said, wanting to get down to business. He drew out his sword and gave Gustavo a hand gesture that told him, "Bring it." All Gustavo could do was laugh maniacally.

"Danny, you must be stupid!" Gustavo said, unable to cantain himself. After regaining his composure, he told Danny, "Let me explain it to you: this staff makes me immortal. You couldn't kill me even if I let you. Second: this staff also makes me all-powerful. Earth, wind, fire, water, and lightning are all at my command. And finally, I saw what Skulker did to you the last moment. He made you powerless. You're just a regular boy with nothing special. I can cut you into pieces and spread you amongst the dirt! So tell me Danny: why do you still want to fight me?"

"I'm doing this for now," Danny said, then running towards Gustavo, "and for later!"

Danny swung his sword and made contact Gustavo's, which blocked his shot. Keeping the blades crossed, Gustavo looked down at his adversary and shouted, "Fool!"

Gustavo pushed Danny back for an attack of his own. Danny moved out of the way to Gustavo's side, thinking he could strike at a more vulnerable area. Gustavo's quick reflexes protected him as he slid his block into an attack. Danny jumped back, avoiding the same fate Jack had. Gustavo jumped back himself and forced a great gust of wind in Danny's direction. It took Danny by surprise as he took a lot of its blow, but he kept himself low to avoid getting pushed back any further than he was. His sneakers were still getting dragged across the dirt.

Danny struggled to keep his ground, soon realizing his feet were dangerously close to the edge. He tried getting away from it only to lose his balance and be swept away. Danny had fortunatly grabbed the ledge, now blowing in the wind like a ribbon tied to a fan. It was then when Danny noticed the wind started dying down. He began to pull himself back up.

After struggling back to the rock's top, Danny couldn't help but wonder why Gustavo stopped his gust. After getting most of himself up, he found out why. The ground crumbled beneath him before he could even get back on his feet. Fortunately, Danny's hero-trained reflexes helped him get hold of the newly made ledge. He knew that ledge didn't crumble by accident. Gustavo did it, and Danny wanted a piece of him. Now trying harder than last time to pull himself up, Danny succeeded, only to have the ground below him break off again. He grabbed on the newer ledge just barely now, then grabbing his sword, which slipped out of his hand just during the rock's partial collapsing. It was then Danny saw the ground below him. He was not only moving towards the ocean, but rising higher above it. Now knowing that falling was the last thing he wanted to do, Danny pulled himself up again a third time with whatever might he had left from the previous two. His arms were incredibly worn out, but miraculously, he got back on land.

Danny just laid there, trying to recover, but he knew he had to do it quick. He saw Gustavo in a furious march shouting, "What does it take to KILL YOU!" Gustavo threw his blade back in a motion to strike once he approached Danny. Danny quickly rolled out of the way when Gustavo brought his sword down, but not quick enough. The sword scratched his right arm, cutting a hole through his shirt. Danny took quick hold of it with his free hand, then realized how close Gustavo was to him. Ignoring the pain for now, Danny let go of his wound and pulled up on Gustavo's legs, tripping him over. Danny quickly got himself up on his feet and was a good distance away from Gustavo before he got back up again.

The two circled eachother, not expecting what the other could do next. "You know how to endure," Gustavo commented to Danny. "I'll give you that."

"I always finish what I start, Gustavo," Danny said, then adding, "...except homework."

"Then allow me to finish this for you!" Gustavo said charging with a lunge that Danny easily evaded. Danny tried striking back, but Gustavo was too fast and blocked Danny's attempted hit. The two now put themselves in a fenzy of strikes, blocks, and counters with roll-dodging, booting, and near-hits galore.

"Tell me Danny," Gustavo said, just cocky enough to gloat during their barrage, "why is i we're still fighting? Maybe I'm not skilled enough." He bent his body back to avoid a horizontal swing. "Maybe we're equally matched." He brought his sword down to cross with Danny's. "Or maybe it's because..." At the end of that, Gustavo sent a surge of electricity into Danny, who screamed in pain in responce. "...I'm not using the staff's power like I ought to."

Danny was being drained like a battery with the intense shock. Figuring it was the only way to stop, Danny let go of his sword, which he later found was a dumb move. The surge did stop, but Danny's sword was quickly scooted over the rocks edge by Gustavo, sending it into the ocean, which they had to've been over by now.

Finding himself defenseless, Danny only put up his fists in hopes to intimidate Gustavo. Judging by his chuckle, it didn't work. Danny was too busy concentrating on Gustavo to notice a large slab of rock flying at him from his side. It hit him with unforgiving impact. Danny now found himself pinned under the rock, trying unsuccessfully to escape.

"Demasiado fácil," Gustavo said with a hint of arrogance as he walked over to where Danny was lying. Neither were aware of Captain Jack Sparrow coming to.

Jack quietly awoke, his leg still in pain, to find Danny in front of him a few yards away, and in serious trouble. Jack wanted to do something, but with an injured leg, his options were very limited.

"This is where it ends, Danny," Gustavo said, adding insult to injury by walking on top of the slab that had Danny pinned. Danny was suffering slowly, and all Jack could do was watch. But as he was watching, he took notice of something. The back of one of Gustavo's wrists was cut. Not only cut, but bleeding. In wonder of what was going on, Jack recalled something when he was in Italy.

_Jupiter knew that any mortal could easily get to the staff and claim it for their own, along with godlike powers._

"So that's all it gave," Jack said quietly to himself, not to get Gustavo's attention. Acting fast, Jack reached for his gun, only to find it missing from where it was normally tucked. Looking around, he saw it to his right. He grabbed it and quickly pointed it at Gustavo, who appeared to be ready to give Danny's head a nasty pierce.

"You were only given the powers of a god, Gustavo!" Jack shouted. Gustavo reacted to the call by turning around, to which he got a bullet to the chest not long after hearing a bang. He stepped from the bullet's impact with his hand over the pain-striken area. A look mixed with awe and anger came to his face as he saw blood seeping through his vest and onto his hand.

"You were never made into one, though."

Falling to his knees, weakened and light-headed, Gustavo gave a furious growl and said directly to Jack, "Le odio," before hitting the ground face-first, dead. The rain stopped almost as soon as he hit the ground.

"I don't know what he said," said Jack, trying to get himself back up, then limping towards Danny, "but I doubt those were very fitting last words. Now let's get that slab off of you."

Jack tried pushing the rock off. As predicted, it was very heavy.

"Wait a minute," Danny said, noticing the current situation, "how is this big rock floating if Gustavo's DEEEEEAAAA-!" The rock plummeted before Danny could finish his sentence.

The rock that was once a small battleground in the sky was now falling. It was very high up, and even hitting the water could mean doom for anyone one top of it.

"Use the staff!" Danny told Jack, stating the only option he could think of.

Jack grabbed onto the staff quickly, while it was still on Gustavo's strap. He looked at it blankly, then turned to Danny and said, "How does this thing work?"

"I don't know!" Danny honestly answered. "Just think about it or something!"

"Er..." Jack said, trying to figure out what to do. He finally shouted, "STOP!" The rock came to a sudden halt, the momentum bumping Danny and Jack hard into the ground. Jack looked at the staff in his hand and said, "That's interesting."

Jack looked back at Danny, who was still pinned under the slab. He looked at the slab and motioned it to the left, to which it responded by doing so. _"Very_ interesting."

Jack took the staff off of Gustavo's body, then proceeded to rolling the body into the ocean. Danny saw this and asked, "What are you doing?"

"The others only have to know we beat him," Jack said, finally pushing the body over the edge. "They don't need to see this though." Gustavo's body splashed into the ocean below, then sank into the dark abyss.

> > > > > >

Adriana, Will, Elizabeth, and Norrington had all noticed the rain stopped from the smithing shop. They rushed to Gustavo's rock, which they saw lower near the port. Norrington drew out his blade, as did Will, who had grabbed one of many from the shop. Adriana and Elizabeth stood behind them for protection. It was all four's surprise and splendor what they saw.

Jack and Danny were standing triumphant on the rock. Both looked battleworn, with Jack having an evident black eye and supporting himself more on his left leg, and Danny with a cut and slightly reddened sleeve. The magical staff in Jack's hand, however, showed proof of their victory.

As the rock was nearing the closest peir, Adriana ran through Will and Norrington, onto the pier, jumped onto the rock and gave Danny a massive hug. Danny didn't know how to take this, so he hugged Adriana back, turning as red as a radish.

"I was so worried about you," Adriana said, on the verge of tears.

"Can we do this a little later, Adriana?" Danny said, his voice full of embarasment. "We're kind of starting a scene."

"Ah, young love," Jack joked. He then turned to Will and company and shouted, "Will, could you help me out a bit? That fight with Gustavo really took a lot out of me, savvy?"

Will responded by coming to the rock and supporting Jack, who put his arm around his shoulder for leverage. Norrington was right behind him, wishing to have a word with Jack.

"Jack Sparrow," he began.

"_Captain_ Jack Sparrow," Jack corrected.

"Fine," Norrington said, clearly irritated. "_Captain_ Jack Sparrow, you have plundered these seas countless times, robbed many aperson, you even went as far as impersonating a cleric of the Church of England!" He noticed Jack grinned widely over that last one. "But on this day, I consider you a hero." Jack seemed deeply moved.

"I thank you for your comments, Commodore," Jack said. "One small favor though. Do you think we can put hold on the gallows?"

"Only until I hear of you in another act of piracy," Norrington smiled.

Jack put the staff in the hand he had around Will and used his now free hand to grab and shake Norrington's hand.

"It appears we've come to an accord then," Jack said to the now aghast commodore. Norrington quickly wiped his hand on his pant leg after the shake, not wanting to know where Jack's hand has been over his many years as a pirate.

"Now," Jack said, "let's get this staff over to the smith's and have itmelted and done with."

"Wait!" Danny quickly said, having all heads turn towards him. "I figured out that that staff has time powers. I can use it and get back to my time!"

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here?" Jack asked. "You'd make a mighty fine pirate, I reckon."

"I've think I've been away from home long enough," Danny said. "Just give me a few hours, though."

"Do you need to regain your powers?" Adriana asked.

"Not just that," Danny said, "I am super tired." Everyone shared a laugh as they went back into town.

> > > > > >

Well, there you go. The long-awaited, yet action-wise disappointing, but probably best written to me, chapter of my fiction. Just one more chapter until this thing is done with. BTW, "la caída de un dios" is spanish for "the fall of a god". So, TTFN. Ta-ta for now.


	20. Home Again

Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

> > > > > >

The Spirit of the Ship

> > > > > >

Chapter 20: Home Again

> > > > > >

Several hours passed since the climactic battle for the world's fate. Commodore Norrington had been kind enough to escort Jack to the island of Tortuga. Jack had hoped he'd meet up with his crew from the Black Pearl there eventually. Jack was using the staff to make sure the winds were blowing to Tortuga. Danny and Adriana had come along to say their last good-byes to eachother.

"So," Danny said to the young thief, "what are you gonna do from here?"

"Well," Adriana started to answer, "I'm going to stay in Port Royal. If I'm apart of your life in the future, it's best I stay there. I also asked Elizabeth, and she said I can work in he mansion."

"I don't mean to interupt this farewell," Jack said in the middle of their conerstion, the staff in one hand and a cane for his now bandaged leg in the other, "but I thought I'd like to say that whenever you're ready, Danny, you can send yourself back to your time period."

Danny looked back at Adriana, then reached for the staff. He withdrew his hand quickly and slapped it against his forehead.

"Oh, no!" Danny said in utter worry. "I forgot! I can't use that thing!"

"Why not?" Adriana asked.

"I remember what Skulker said back at the cave," Danny explained. "He said the staff could only be held by the living. If you look at it closely, I'm not. I'm practically living and dead. Those two cancel eachother out to be neither."

"Donny boy's words are still ringing in your head, eh?" Jack said. He then recommended, "You know, I can use it to get you back."

"No, that's the thing," Danny said. "You don't know where to get me back. Now Jack, I'm not calling you stupid or anything, it's just that trusting you to get me back home is a little risky. You could probably send me too far ahead and I'll be in some future that's ruled by ghosts because of me being gone for so long. Or you could send me too early and I'll be before I was even in third grade and ruin this space-time continuim thing. As much as I'd..."

During Danny's rambling, Adriana grabbed the staff out of Jack's hand and shoved it into Danny. Danny was about to say something until he realized he was holding the staff and nothing was happening to him. A look of surprise, then delight came to his face, then two bright, white rings apeared around his waist as he took his ghost form.

"What do you know?" Danny said, still with the staff in hand. "I can even hold this thing in my ghost form. But what gave you-?"

"I was thinking that if you had the advantages of being dead with the sirens," Adriana explained, "you'd have the advantages of being alive with the staff."

"Apparently," Jack threw in, "with all the time you had thinking of all that you were just talking about, the thought that Adriana came up with blew over your head entirely."

Danny looked over the horizen, then to Adriana. He then said, "This is probably the part where we do this certain good-bye, but it'd feel kind of weird making out with my best friend's great, great, great grandmother or something. So, how about just a friendly good-bye hug?"

He opened his arms wide, to which Adriana quickly lunged herself into. She knew how much she'd miss Danny dearly, and wanted the hug to be a bit more than a good-bye one. Eventually, she let go.

Danny tried remembering how Gustavo worked the staff. He remember seeing him holding it like a shotgun, now he had to worry about destination. He recalled what he told Jack and just thought about his home in the present. The end of the staff started to glow green, and a few seconds later, a green shot was fired, which sent Danny a step back. The shot went several yards and stoped, turning into a portal above the ocean.

Danny looked at the portal, then gave the staff to Adriana. He readied himself to fly, but then turned to the thief next to him and said, "Oh, Adriana, you know that 'unique is good' thing you told me that one day. Pass that on to any family you might have. Someone's gonna need it."

"Who?" Adriana asked, curious to know.

"Me," Danny simply answered. With that, he readied himself to fly again, but was surprised when he felt a peck on his cheek. He turned to where it came from to find Adriana. She had just kissed him! Her tanned face now took more of a reddish tone. Danny's face had also done the same.

He looked at Adriana, then at Jack, and said, "Thanks for everything, guys." He then floated up and flew into the portal he had made. Almost as soon as he entered the portal, it vanished.

Adriana walked up to the railing, shortly after, looking into the horizon with a tear shed. She then whispered, "Nunca me olvidaré de usted, Danny Phantom."

> > > > > >

In the Fenton laboratory, all seemed calm until a green portal, which wasn't the ghost portal for once, opened up over the floor. A certain ghost boy then spilled out of it, landing directly on his front on the linolium beneath. He shook it off as the portal disappeared behind him. He looked around to see everything around him so hi-tech. He was in his parent's lab. Danny was finally home.

Danny changed back into his human form, not knowing what to expect when he went up the staircase. He crreked the door open to see his best friends, Sam and Tucker, as they were when he last saw them. They were staring at eachother blankly. Tucker then opened his mouth and said, "What are you looking at me for? You're the smart one, I just carry the neato gizmos."

Moments after Sam slapped her head in frustration, Danny ran at them and gave them a big group hug. Confused, Tucker asked, "Danny, what are you doing?"

"I really missed you guys," Danny said, releasing his hug.

"You were only gone for a few seconds," Sam said. "What the heck went on?" Sam then noticed the air around her and asked, "And why do you smell like salt water?"

"It was crazy," Danny said. "It's a long story. I started off in-" Danny stopped and looked at Sam and said, "Sam, did you trace your family back to Spain?"

"Uh," Sam said to the rather random question, "some parts. Why?"

"YES!" Danny shouted. He finally knew for sure he saved his best friend, and had to shout it to the heavens. Now finding himself in an awkward state, Danny quickly said, "Uh, no reason."

"Speaking of what happened to you," Tucker added in, "what happened to Skulker. He went in the machine just after you did."

Before Danny could answer, another portal opened next to the still active Fenton Time Tunnel. Skulker blew out of it afterwards, passing Danny, Tucker, and Sam like a subway train. Skulker started muttering after he got to his knees.

"Blasted Gustavo," he said, completely unaware of who was behind him, or the rest of his surroundings for that matter. "I had that ghost boy in the palm of my hand! He will rue the day he messed with Skulker!" He threw his remaining fist in the air as a threat he was sure to meet. He was flabbergasted when his Plasmius Maximus, still exposed on his wrist, was blown into pieces. "HEY!" Skulker said, finally looking behind him. He couldn't believe it. His prey was now in front of him, green smoke emiting from his finger. "YOU!"

Quickly reacting, Tucker opened the Fenton Thermos and fired it at Skulker. A light blue ray enveloped Skulker, then he got pulled into the thermos.

"YOU WILL BE MINE!" were the last they heard of Skulker. ...For now at least.

"Just one more thing to call it a day," Danny said. He turned back to the time tunnel and fired a ghost ray at the top of the opening. A huge chunk of it blew off, causing the tunnel to shut down almost immediately.

After the task was done, Danny's family (mostly his dad) came bursting out of the kitchen. Danny took quick notice of his dad wearing a big, metal nose on his face.

"It's in this very room," Jack Fenton confidently said. "I can smell it."

"Uh, you just missed it," Danny lied, and also trying not to laugh at whatever was on his father's face. "It came in here and ruined the room... and blew up part of the house... and destroyed the Fenton Time Tunnel... which, might I add, is probably your most useless invention yet, Dad."

"Well, I'll agree to the useless part," Jack said, "but the Fenton Scent Sensor doesn't lie. It blocks out every known scent except those being emitted from a ghost." Jack took a whiff of the air around him. "And this one's close. It smells just like... the ocean."

Figuring it's the second time the salty scent was brought up, Danny took a smell of his underarm. Almost gagging, Danny found out how much of a salty dog he smelt like. He quickly said, "Uh, that reminds me. I gotta go shower." Danny darted past Sam and Tucker and up the stairs. It didn't take long for Jack to figure out whatever ghost was around was almost absent.

"The trails getting cold," Jack said. "It's on the run! Come on, Maddie! It's heading up!"

Jack followed his nose, with Maddie following him, up the stairs. Maddie then told Jack, "If we catch this ghost, it'll be the treasure for the ages."

> > > > > >

THE END

> > > > > >

Well, that was good. Now that this guy is finally off my back, I can get going on other projects. It'll be a trilogy, only two of which I know will be crossovers. Thanks for the support and reviews, guys. This story wouldn't be a hit without you! PEACE!


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